Breathing Through a Straw

Meet Parker, a 45-year-old closeted gay man. When the story begins, Parker has just moved back into his childhood home to care for his ailing mother. At supper, Parker's mother interrogates him about where he goes at night. Parker lies to her, saying that he goes to the park to feed the ducks. That evening, Parker watches a news program about The Fire Challenge - an internet craze where teens douse themselves with rubbing alcohol and set themselves ablaze. Later, Parker drives to a deserted parking lot, takes a gas tank out of his trunk, and prepares to kill himself. Suddenly, he receives an unexpected a text from Jesse on a dating app: "Are you into dudes?" Parker drives to Jesse's contemporary house. He follows a trail of sticky notes leading to a candlelit bathroom, where he meets Jesse. They are about to hook up in the bathtub when Jesse's wife, Patricia, arrives home. To hide from her, Parker takes a straw out of a piña colada and submerses beneath the bubbly water, using the straw to breathe.

When he is underwater, Parker has an unsettling flashback. He recalls being abused by his neighbor, Bill. Suddenly, the sound of a gunshot snaps Parker back to the present. He emerges from the bathtub to discover Jesse's dead body. As he is about to escape, Patricia forces him at gunpoint to admit he is gay. He does and Patricia spares his life. Parker drives to Bill's house and finds him drunk in the living room. Parker pours the tank of gas over Bill's head and ignites a lighter. But just as Parker is about to set Bill on fire, he realizes that he has too much love in his heart to do it. He returns home to his mother who asks, "Where were you?" Parker opens his mouth to speak the truth for the first time.

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