Ted remembered sitting in Joar’s car outside a museum, feeling the particular ache of impending separation from close friends at fourteen. The artist confessed fear that he would not win a competition and would disappoint everyone. Instead of anger, Joar calmly insisted the artist would win and emphasized that the true point was that the artist belonged in that space, offering steadfast belief.

The four friends—Ted, Joar, the artist, and Ali—sat in the car with the air-conditioning blasting until a foul smell forced them out. After brief banter and blame, they tumbled onto the grass coughing and joking about Ted’s cookies. A gusty wind heralded a coming storm.

Ali spotted a lawn sprinkler outside the museum, and within seconds all four ran through it, getting soaked. The scene captured their last carefree moments before August, when the endless feeling of summer faded and adulthood loomed. The narration noted that the story could have ended happily there.

Then the tone shifted: Joar reached for his backpack to feel the reassuring weight of a knife he had been carrying. He noticed an unexpectedly clean scent, panicked, and unzipped the bag. Where the knife should have been, he found only soap. Joar’s realization introduced a sudden, unsettling turn, replacing comfort with fear.