Your dog has taken upon herself the task of remodeling your home. (She just got her degree in home decorating from famed Mirtha Spaniel.) She makes the place more suitable to living a dog’s life. What changes has the animal made? How has she redecorated your own room?

Modern day DNA technology gives you the chance to create a chimera — a being that can have the head of one animal, the body of another, the legs of a third, the brain of a human, the voice of another creature. You will stock an animal park with the creatures that YOU invent. What kind of creature will yours be? What are its characteristics and attributes? What might it look like? What will you name your beast?

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: