The textbook explanation for this feat concerns the transformation of electricity to magnetism (and the reverse) and induced energy from one medium to another. But these accounts fail to explain what Agnes did next.

You hear him huffing his way to the house, cussing his key ring for falling from his hand. You feel his bumbling presence as he trudges through the door, letting a hint of winter wind into the hall before shutting it tight behind him. If it wasn’t for a very sudden and violent sneeze that came upon you, he likely wouldn’t have noticed you there, disheveled and defeated.

Balazs steps forward and introduces me. I tentatively reach out my hand, and his father shakes it with the instant comradery that comes from living shoulder to shoulder with ones’ neighbors in the blue-collar districts of Budapest.

Everything made Pete queasy. He once fainted at the sight of a moldy loaf of bread. Even so, he decided to take on a thankless summer job as a roadkill cleaner.

That night Barry slept fitfully. In the morning, as he sat on the toilet, he decided to pray.

Wayne coughed up a gob of phlegm. “Wanna learn your lesson the hard way, huh? Well, go right the hell ahead. Why should I give a crappie?” He barked a laugh and wriggled in my face the body of the fish he had just decapitated.

The memory of Elena’s lips was staying with him. She had the best lips. Full, fleshy, pouty. Although, she was seldom solemn enough for them to take on that pout. She was always on the brink of mischief. He loved her for that.

Gertrude’s quiet. I swear I can feel her, just on the other side of the wall. Maybe I should join her in there. She has no problem being in my space, sneaking around when she knows I won’t see her. Brings a whole new meaning to the idea of someone “seeing you when you’re sleeping.” I don’t know why she has such a problem with me seeing her, but that’s her prerogative, I suppose. But she comes in here. Why shouldn’t I go in there?

Suzannah swung her feet off Nomi’s lap and went to tend to a gas camping stove. Nomi took my feet in her hands. Someone gave me a glass of cool yellow pear juice. Eva and Yoav were singing softly together, harmonising some old Hebrew song. The glass I was drinking from was curved like a chalice. There were pairs here: Eva and Yoav, Nomi and Suzannah. Gavin seemed alone but perhaps he preferred it that way. And who did Daniel belong to now?

The TV images from the moon bloomed across the screen. They looked like gray and white flowers. Iggy stayed rock hard. He didn’t budge as the very first moonwalk unfolded under his belly. He was a lonely observer, only hearing the events that happened far away from him. The launch of the Apollo rocket. The long space journey of the three astronauts. The landing of the beetle-like lunar module. I wanted to shout at Iggy and rouse his stone age blood: Don’t you know what’s happening under you? It’s everything, Iggy, everything.