We rented a car and drove into Fort Liard because it had become important by this point -as other things like making it to the airport on time had fallen away- to make it across the border into the North West Territories. The experience, to say the least, was anticlimactic. More honestly it bordered on nauseating. On the Alaska Highway a man stood on one side, both hands over his ears, screaming into the wind, the perfect picture of fear. The car kept going straight, my head turned with him.

Jenny watched me through narrowed eyes. She said, I know what you see, and that's not what it is.

What?

He's not screaming, she said.

Is so.

She said, No, he's on a cell phone. One hand on the phone, Lisa, see, the other hand to block out the sound of the traffic.


She showed me with her hands. One hand on her cell phone, it disappeared behind her hair and her hand, the other hand over her ear. It made sense.

I kept my eyes forward. I thought she was lying because people sometimes will when it might make you feel better.

He wasn't screaming, she told me. He was just talking on the phone.



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