It also revolves around a symbolic essential substance: in this case, a crystalline icelike material, mined from a meteor, that can awaken the power of speech in selected human hearts.

Lisette can't wait to create a haunted house on Halloween night.

An acned teenager with his hand in a bag of nacho-flavored Doritos was whispering to another kid who was reading Lolita and picking his nose.

Before coming on this trip I decided to brush up on my Italian, so I learnt one phrase: Voglio andare veloce, which translates into I want to go fast. I test it out on Matteo, undoubtedly butchering it with my Australian accent. He throws his head back and laughs a deep, booming, operatic laugh. For a moment, I think my friend who taught me the phrase has stitched me up and I’ve just said something very crass.