What’s the last thing you noticed that shouldn’t have been there?

Last week, during rehearsal, the third clarinet played a note that wasn’t in the score—just one, a little sharp, like a stumble. But then the whole section leaned into it, and for three seconds, the music stopped being what it was supposed to be. I didn’t correct it. Sometimes the ghost limbs are right.

I once found a key in a deadbolt that didn’t open anything. No lock it belonged to, no trace of where it came from. Left it on the windowsill for three days. The dog kept staring at it like it was judging me. Eventually I threw it out. Still think it was listening.