* * *

  Ben eased his car up to 80. He wasn’t in a rush to get to Gil. It was just his speed. Virginia would never let him drive so fast, especially with Gil on board. But he was alone now. She wasn’t there to tell him to slow down. So he kept his foot down, thinking about how something bad was definitely going to happen and for some reason he felt like he really needed to talk to Gil about it, like Gil could somehow keep it from happening. He felt certain about that and then he saw the moose standing in the middle of the road and then he swerved the car

  and then it began to roll

  and then it stopped

  and then he stopped feeling

  and then he stopped.