The traffic was once stop-and-go as she exited Interstate 5 and crept toward the sprawling suburb of Redmond.
Not so many years earlier, this had been the sticks; hundreds of acres of unspoiled farmland nestled between two rivers. Now it was once MicrosoftLand, the über suburbia of the geek set. The developments had tried to keep the rural flavor-lots had been big; subdivisions had names like Evergreen Valley and Rainshadow
Vista, and timber have been preserved at all cost. Unfortunately, the houses all looked disturbingly similar. Step ford in a coat of Ralph Lauren paint. Esther checked the accessible apartment automobile map and grew to become down Emerald Lane. One big, brick-faced residence accompanied another; each constructed to the aspect of its lot. New landscaping gave the near
