Good morning, citizens. Today: abroad they have begun sending the parcels through the air, to nearly five hundred towns, and it never once comes to the wrong house — because somebody measured every garden and every gap between the trees first, and now they need never look again. Abroad they have also named this the year of sensation, and want food that is sour and food that cracks, which makes me think of a child holding one sweet a long while before she eats it. The Ministry of Weather finds the coming week agreeable, and the schedule is unchanged. And then, before we part: the loveliest party I ever went to — bunting in the courtyard, the good chairs carried down, and my very best friend, whose family learned they were leaving on the Tuesday after. Everything is already wonderful.

Verity is a satirical fiction podcast. Inspired by rea ...