Today I opened The Last Drive at random to page 199. With my eyes closed, I pointed to the page. The word closest to my finger is “Verification.” This is our prompt.

Verification by John W. Howell © 2026

“May I see your ID?”

“Why’s that?”

“I need verification of who you are.”

“I told you.”

“I know, but verification is important; otherwise, I can’t let you in.”

“I just showed you my invitation.”

“All well and good, but verification is still needed.”

“I don’t have any ID.”

“Well then, sir, would you please step aside. You are holding up others.”

“Wait a minute. There has to be another way.”

“Don’t know what that might be.”

“Do you have a list of those invited?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then why not check the list with the invitation?”

“That won’t give me the verification that I need.”

“Seems silly. What’s one more at a feeding frenzy anyway?”

“If we let in every stray shark that comes by, there would not be enough prey to go around.”

“Okay. I guess I’ll miss this one then.”

“You know, on second thought, you have been nice about this. I agree the rules are a bit stringent. Go ahead in. Mackerel are the subject of the frenzy today.”

“Thank you.”