A Halloweeny incoherence cautions reading assumptions from or into things, a creative nightmare loosens the reader from adult imperative.

I was loath to return to the office without the Henderson file.

We all grabbed towels that belonged to whoever lived there, and we wet them down in the scuttlebutt and wrapped them around our faces to filter out as much smoke as possible.

The farmer grabbed a handful of sacking and rubbed down the cow.