Your best friend believes fervently in reincarnation, or the passage of the soul at death into another body, whether that’s another human body or the body of another living creature, such as a bird or bee.

What are some of the different lives your friend’s soul has filled over the centuries? What have they been like?

Late at night you turn on the radio and hear a song that you have written. It dominates the airwaves and reflects your deepest thoughts, your obsessions, your anger, your joy, your special take on the world. The next day everyone is mouthing the words to your song. Here is how it goes:

Imagine living in a war-torn land. Conditions are so bad that you are forced to flee your country to a new land, leaving behind the people and things you love. As a refugee where would you go? What would your greatest hope and wish be? Can you think of what it would be like to live in a refugee camp? What is it like to build a new life?

Imagine that like Frankenstein author Mary Shelley, you will write a supernatural tale ”to curl the blood, and quicken the beatings of the heart.” What will be the opening lines (or even the ending lines) of your ghost story? Who will be your hero or evil doer? Describe him or her — or it. Use your nightmares to help you.

Through some miracle you are able to understand the thoughts and conversations of your favorite pet or animal. The creature’s thoughts and words astonish you — they even shock you. They provide you with the rare chance to see the world in an entirely new light. What stories do you hear the creatures tell? What do you learn?

There is a bully who terrorizes everything, including you. One afternoon you follow him home and hide behind a bush in front of his window. Peeping in, you see him in a whole new light. He is not the same person you know at school. Describe him in his home setting.