You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.-Abraham Lincoln Patrick sat on the edge of a deep hole, eating a sandwich and listening to a Radiohead CD on his Walkman. He watched as his coworkers scrambled around the worksite like ants, digging holes and gathering materials for the next phase of the project. George tapped him on …

The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. -Marcus Tullius Cicero Tristan awoke with a start, unable to catch her breath. She looked around wildly, expecting to see dead bodies shambling around her, but she was alone. Not only was she alone, she was also in her bedroom. She tried to remember what had happened …

PART TWO: QUAALUDES AND INTERLUDES Nobody ever tells you that emptiness weighs the most. – Unknown Patrick sat in his pickup and counted the money he had collected so far. $800. $400 for his guitar and $400 for some odd jobs he had done around town. That wasn’t enough. Not that any amount would ever be enough, but he had …

There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction. -John F. Kennedy There are certain moments throughout your life that define who you are. When Tristan was a kid, she had a best friend named Laurie. Laurie was a good friend- a great friend, really- and the two were inseparable …

Acceptance doesn’t mean resignation; it means understanding that something is what it is and that there’s got to be a way through it. -Michael J. Fox Tristan screamed again, only this time much louder. Sharon collapsed in a heap on the ground, every function in her body ceasing at once. George stood in the doorway, leaned against the frame. “I …

Hope is a waking dream. -Aristotle Tristan threw her hands up in exasperation. “Why don’t we just call the cops?” She asked. “He hasn’t taken our phones.” Jennifer laughed at that. “Just what this situation needs. More angry dudes with guns.” The attorney mused. Tristan was starting to understand that Jennifer just liked to argue. “You need an ambulance either …

Nothing is more wretched than the mind of a man conscious of guilt. -Plautus Tristan screamed. How could she not? She had never even seen a gun go off before and now someone had been shot right in front of her. The lawyer stood unsteady on her feet for a moment and looked down at the newly formed hole in …

The lawyer’s truth is not Truth, but consistency or a consistent expediency. -Henry David Thoreau George paced across the floor of the front desk area in Jennifer’s office. The space was dark, lit only by a floor lamp in the corner. The lights and HVAC had turned off for the building hours before. A TV was mounted on the wall …

PART ONE: BODY OF LAW Sickness, insanity and death were the angels that surrounded my cradle and they have followed me throughout my life. – Edvard Munch. At an unremarkable bus stop in an unremarkable suburb of Northern Virginia sat an unremarkable woman. Tristan Baker would often blend into the background, opting to be a fly on the wall more …