Lenny clapped his hand on Agnes’s arm for balance as Shilah steered the jostling truck down to the end of the lane. They stopped in a wide area cleared of trees. At Lenny’s touch Agnes jolted and a bubbling heat washed down her legs and arms, her face enflamed and around her eyes damp and full as if he’d woken her from a deep sleep. Her eyes had stayed open, but the trees streamed past her like a sped-up movie. If she couldn’t stop the world, she could stop herself, hold a moment close, freeze it. Even when she did that, her body hurtled forward into dust, yet she could hang full in a moment when she contained her energy this way. Maybe she’d found the appeal of drugs for these young people. They must be trying to stop their connection to the relentless objects and events around them so th
