i didn’t watch the solar eclipse but worked on my novel instead, waiting for the dragon eye to open so i could ask it why modern life is so hard and why we accept humans killing other humans and who deserves punishment, and when the eye didn’t answer, i picked up candy wrappers under my desk and spoke in Scottish and Russian accents, throwing them away, smashing garlic with the flat blade of my knife, and figuring all life is hard, whether it’s justice or vengeance or a horse standing alone in a convenience store aisle, it’s all the same: a missed opportunity.