Passages
Chapter 2, Scene 3
The girl in the passenger seat leaned forward. Michael saw it coming. She vomited across the console and all over the floor of the passenger side.
Acceptance
I walked out the front door without looking back. Eighteen years and it was over.
Chapter 2, Scene 2
There was no fanfare on his arrival. No wife waiting with a hug and kiss. No children ran to be picked up.
Despondent
I’ve been waking up in the mornings with just enough time to walk to work. Sometimes I don’t even brush my teeth first.
James - 8/6/1994 10:13 a.m.
“Can Jimmy come out and play?”
“I’m terribly sorry,” James Senior said, “but you must have the wrong house. There is no ‘Jimmy’ here.”
Chapter 2, Scene 1
James’s thoughts refused to settle. The announcement had shifted the ground beneath him. The weeks ahead would be turbulent.
Eye of the Needle
I was thirty years-old when I first became certified as a personal trainer. In a profession that favors youth, this was later than most. I didn’t care. The thought of fitting in never crossed my mind.
Bobby - 7/1/1985, 12:06 p.m.
A man and woman were walking toward the house. Cradled on her hip, the woman carried a small child of no more than two years old.
They were colored.
Pickles & Motor Oil | Post 501
Guess who’s been lurking around someone’s trailer park lately?
Mister Motor Oil himself.
Chapter 1, Scene 3
This couldn’t possibly be real.
Could it?
But if it were…
It would change everything.
Bobby - 8/25/1998, 10:20 a.m..
Bobby had considered faking sick—or skipping school—but where would he go all day? He’d have to face it, eventually.
Chapter 1, Scene 2
The door clattered shut behind him, cutting him off from the morning light. The smell hit him first—a thick mix of stale cigarette smoke, marijuana, and sweat. The carpet felt sticky under his feet.
Homeostasis
“Where in your life have you been lulled into comfort—and the cost has been your own growth and forward momentum?”
Bobby - 12/3/1996, 4:41 p.m.
As he bent to pick up the scattered newspapers, Bobby was suddenly aware of being watched.
Pickles & Motor Oil | Post 493
I stepped onto the Gravity 3000 and the results were… um… not what I would consider accurate.
Chapter 1, Scene 1
Rick put a hand on Bobby’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “You ain’t broken, kid,” he said. “You’re just scared—like we’re all scared.”