everything. You’re here to do your job. That’s it. You’re not the devil; you just work for him.” Finn smiles, as Sofie sticks her tongue out at him. His words make sense, but that doesn’t stop Sofie from feeling lousy.
“Don’t you ever think that this isn’t what you imagined you’d be doing with your life?” Sofie stands in front of the video game, forcing Finn to pay attention to what she’s asking him.
“Hey, I almost made it to the next level,” Finn complains, trying to look around her, giving up when he sees the expression on her face telling him that she will not be moved. “Yes, fine, this isn’t what I’d thought I’d be doing, making the big man even richer and destroying little pockets of good ol’ Mother Nature as we go. We’ve talked about this, Sofe. Idealism doesn’t get the bills paid. You do this for a few years, and you get out. That was always the plan. So what’s changed?”
“I don’t know.” She throws her hands up, frustrated that she can’t even put her finger on what’s got her so worked up. Or perhaps she just doesn’t want to admit it to herself. “There’s something about this place. It feels...I don’t know...magical.” She shrugs, wishing she had used a different word.
“Magical? Sofe, are you feeling alright?” Finn stands up and puts a hand on her forehead as if he’s checking her temperature. “You’re a scientist. You don’t believe in ‘magical.’”
“I know, and that’s not what I meant. It’s just…I feel different about what we’re doing this time. I can’t explain it.” She swipes at his hand to move it from her head. “I don’t want Shale to destroy this place.” That’s the crux of it. That’s what I’m afraid of, but I’m not sure why , she thinks .
“Well, you might get your wish if you’re right about the wolves. Doesn’t matter how much oil is under that mountain, if there are furry little mites there, the government won’t sign off on any drilling. Simple.” He shrugs his shoulders to highlight just how straightforward what he’s saying is. “Look, you’ve been working too hard. Go out and take Darwin’s advice. Do something fun.” He sits back down, picks up his controller and motions her out of the way of the television screen.
“Something fun,” she says, as if the words were an equation without an answer.
“Yeah, you remember fun, right?” Finn ducks, as she takes a swipe at his head and settles back into his game.
“Have fun killing all those brain cells,” Sofie teases, as she grabs her jacket and heads towards the door.
“I could burn half the cells in this brain of mine and still trump you in an IQ test, Braun. Don’t you worry about that. I’m a genius, after all,” he says, living up to his legendary self-belief.
“Well, genius, you’re just about to get shot,” Sofie points out, as Finn’s on-screen avatar gets blind-sided and falls to the ground.
GAME OVER appears in big letters, and Sofie does nothing to hide her smug smile. She walks out of the motel, trying to remember what she used to like to do when she had free time. It has been a while.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Darwin had invited Sofie along with him to check out the Native American museum in the town. But, it was clear that his impending divorce was on his mind, and she figured he could use the time alone. Besides, she wasn’t really in the mood for seeing anything more about outsiders taking over land that wasn’t theirs and causing destruction and mayhem. The thought of it just left a bitter taste in her mouth. So, she made her excuses and that’s how she found herself wandering around the town of Beaumont without any real plan.
She could feel herself starting to get antsy since she has never been a person who just to goes with the flow. She’s always needed to know what she’s doing, needed to be focused on the endgame. But right now, all she could think was how conflicted she felt about what she and the rest of the
“Don’t you ever think that this isn’t what you imagined you’d be doing with your life?” Sofie stands in front of the video game, forcing Finn to pay attention to what she’s asking him.
“Hey, I almost made it to the next level,” Finn complains, trying to look around her, giving up when he sees the expression on her face telling him that she will not be moved. “Yes, fine, this isn’t what I’d thought I’d be doing, making the big man even richer and destroying little pockets of good ol’ Mother Nature as we go. We’ve talked about this, Sofe. Idealism doesn’t get the bills paid. You do this for a few years, and you get out. That was always the plan. So what’s changed?”
“I don’t know.” She throws her hands up, frustrated that she can’t even put her finger on what’s got her so worked up. Or perhaps she just doesn’t want to admit it to herself. “There’s something about this place. It feels...I don’t know...magical.” She shrugs, wishing she had used a different word.
“Magical? Sofe, are you feeling alright?” Finn stands up and puts a hand on her forehead as if he’s checking her temperature. “You’re a scientist. You don’t believe in ‘magical.’”
“I know, and that’s not what I meant. It’s just…I feel different about what we’re doing this time. I can’t explain it.” She swipes at his hand to move it from her head. “I don’t want Shale to destroy this place.” That’s the crux of it. That’s what I’m afraid of, but I’m not sure why , she thinks .
“Well, you might get your wish if you’re right about the wolves. Doesn’t matter how much oil is under that mountain, if there are furry little mites there, the government won’t sign off on any drilling. Simple.” He shrugs his shoulders to highlight just how straightforward what he’s saying is. “Look, you’ve been working too hard. Go out and take Darwin’s advice. Do something fun.” He sits back down, picks up his controller and motions her out of the way of the television screen.
“Something fun,” she says, as if the words were an equation without an answer.
“Yeah, you remember fun, right?” Finn ducks, as she takes a swipe at his head and settles back into his game.
“Have fun killing all those brain cells,” Sofie teases, as she grabs her jacket and heads towards the door.
“I could burn half the cells in this brain of mine and still trump you in an IQ test, Braun. Don’t you worry about that. I’m a genius, after all,” he says, living up to his legendary self-belief.
“Well, genius, you’re just about to get shot,” Sofie points out, as Finn’s on-screen avatar gets blind-sided and falls to the ground.
GAME OVER appears in big letters, and Sofie does nothing to hide her smug smile. She walks out of the motel, trying to remember what she used to like to do when she had free time. It has been a while.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Darwin had invited Sofie along with him to check out the Native American museum in the town. But, it was clear that his impending divorce was on his mind, and she figured he could use the time alone. Besides, she wasn’t really in the mood for seeing anything more about outsiders taking over land that wasn’t theirs and causing destruction and mayhem. The thought of it just left a bitter taste in her mouth. So, she made her excuses and that’s how she found herself wandering around the town of Beaumont without any real plan.
She could feel herself starting to get antsy since she has never been a person who just to goes with the flow. She’s always needed to know what she’s doing, needed to be focused on the endgame. But right now, all she could think was how conflicted she felt about what she and the rest of the
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