‘ um . . . ’ she bit down on her lip. hard. it felt rough under her teeth, and she thought for a moment she might bite right through it, but still she continued, feeling the strangest comfort in such subtle pain. the general atmosphere was awkward, so she figured she had to take solace in the LITTLE THINGS, things being, for example, the fact that her bottom lip, with the added pressure of her own bite, had finally ceased quivering. that’s a plus, huh! ‘ d’you know the name of this town, or, like -- state? or something? i kinda nodded off in the ride i hitched here. ’ the last bit is accompanied by a shameful little smile, for she feels kinda STUPID for trusting that some weird old trucker-dude would take her all the way to phoenix, but she guessed it was more than naiievety -- she didn’t really care where she went! town after town blurred into each other, and at the end of the day, all places seemed to be the same. at least, at their bitter cores.