Chapter One

Jim Heller fell asleep to corn four times, and woke up to corn three. The vast rows at first amazed him, even imbibed him with a sense of inspiration (for what, however, he wasn’t completely sure.) But eventually, it was only hypnotic. He would stare at the miles and miles of pointy tips going by him, the wall of green and yellow, and feel his eyes become uncontrollably weighed down. Then he’d black out and dream about the jungle, the ocean. When he awoke, embarrassed at the visions of himself bare-chested, riding the backs of tigers and elephants and tigers, he wondered if the corn was telling him there were better places to be.

That fourth time Jim woke up he rejoiced silently at the different sight before him; though no less repetitive, the bouncing, grass-covered hills filled him with the same wonder as when the terrain first sprouted with corn – and also reminded him of the ocean he saw in an earlier dream.

With the fresh view, Jim finally found himself able to sit up in the passenger seat, and stretch out some of the fatigue left in him by the repeated naps. Turning left, he saw that his sister Abilene had apparently had not changed her position at all since he first went under. She was still hunched slightly away from the seat, hands at five and seven, bouncing her head softly to the children’s music playing on the one radio station they could get in.

Jim tried to speak, but had to cough and grunt some before he could get any words out. “Where are we?” he finally managed.

Abilene didn’t turn. “No idea. At the motel Dad said it was only about three hundred miles till we got there. And we’re at two-ten now.”

Jim turned around in his seat, half cracking his back, half looking behind. “Where are they, anyway? Lose ‘em?”

She shook her head. “Nah. Look after we go over this hill, they’re like a quarter mile ahead or something. Mom’s driving now, so they’re actually going normal speed. I think dad’s afraid to go over forty.”

As they reached the round peak Jim looked down and saw the moving van, swerving a little since Janice Heller was still adjusting to handling something bigger than a hatchback. Jim prayed that his stuff stayed okay.

After a few minutes of silence Abilene finally turned her head to her brother. “So are you excited about the job?”

Jim shifted his weight in his seat, put a foot up on the dash, and crossed his arms. “I’m not…*not* excited, you know?”

Abilene nodded, interrupting the beat she continued keeping.

“It’s cool to know I’ll have something to do when we get to this place. But I still have no idea what I’m doing. Just ‘intern.’ Do you even know what this company does?”

“Mom says they’re a ‘valuecentric mass manufacturing concern.’”

Jim grabbed at the armrest on the door. “Now what the fuck does that mean?” He winced at his slip.

Abilene clapped, then grabbed back at the steering wheel. “Ooh, I’m telling!”

“No, Abby, please don’t.” She just grinned. Jim groaned.

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Abilene looked down at the trip meter and sighed when she saw there were only fifty or so miles left to go. She was sure she could drive another thousand. Since getting her license a month or so back that was all she wanted to do, just drive and drive and drive. When her parents announced that not only would the family be moving across country, but that they would have to do all the moving themselves, she saw it as a blessing – compounded by the fact that her brother Jim was fine just spending the miles drifting in and out of consciousness, leaving her to do all the driving of the family 3-door.

He had actually conked out right in the middle of a conversation they were having. Sometimes she wondered if he was narcoleptic. He could just drop into sleep anywhere, anytime. Of course, she had never seen him do it when he wasn’t around her. Maybe, Abilene thought, she was just really boring.

From the corner of her eye she saw Jim tilting back and forth, rolling his head, obviously coming to. After a look back and forth to reorient himself he half-tapped-half-pushed Abilene on the shoulder.

“What are *you* going to do when we get there? Decided yet?”

Abilene shook her head. “Sometimes the whole home school early graduation thing is really annoying. It’s like, I have no idea what to do. I definitely do not want to hang around the house all day with Mom.”

Jim nodded and breathed in deep. “Ooohhh yeah, you do not want that. Maybe you can work at Wal-Mart.”

Abilene refused to dignify that with a response.

“Well, there has to be something you can do.”

“Uh, you sure about that? We haven’t even passed a McDonald’s in, like, a hundred miles. It’s looking like the only job I’ll be able to get is at a gas station or bait shop.”

“Or strip club.”

Abilene punched Jim very hard in the shoulder. Jim kept laughing, even though she got him with her ring.

“Come on, we will be living in an actual town, you know. Not a hole carved in a hill. Dad said there are, like, five thousand people there. One of them has to be willing to hire you. Play your cards right I might be able to hook you up with a job at this plant.”

Abilene rolled her eyes. “Uh, no thanks. Unlike some, I won’t take a job until I know exactly what it is I’ll be doing.”

Jim yawned and slunk down in his seat. “Well, you’ll figure it out.”

Before her, all Abilene saw was grass. “Maybe.”

Chapter Three

Henry Heller grabbed tight at the handle above his window as he watched his wife Mary try to hide her struggle to keep control of the truck. His feet were pressed as hard as possible on the floor in front of him, the hope being he would unlock some sort of magical hidden brake.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive, dear? I really don’t mind.”

Mary laughed and turned to him. Henry wished he had stayed quiet; he hated when she took her eyes off the road. “You kidding? This is great!” She checked the highway in front of her, then took another look at her husband. “Henry, you have to calm down. I’ll get us there.”

Henry grinned, but could not relax a single part of his body. He started a thought that Mary interrupted and answered.

“Yes, in one piece.” She looked his rigor mortis up and down again and just shook her head. “God,” she said, half under her breath.

For Henry’s sake, Mary decided to not pull any more fake swerves. The first time she drove, the wind and the weight of the vehicle she was controlling really did take her by surprise. But that was two days ago. Eventually she just got a kick out of her husband’s panic that she would flip them off the road. But now she thought it was sort of pathetic.

They drove in silence for about the next ten miles. She didn’t swerve once, but her husband still remained stiff and nervous. Until he turned his head, she thought to say something to her, and became distracted by something in the distance.

“Oh wow!” He sat straight up in his seat. “Pull over, pull over!”

Mary turned to see what the hoo-haa was about, and when she saw, could only gape and slow gradually. Henry had his window rolled down and hand stuck out, wildly motioning to the kids to follow their lead.

The instant she had stopped on the gravelly shoulder, Henry popped the lock and jumped out of the cab. He ran around to the driver’s side and excitedly helped Mary step down. She was still transfixed on the sight in the distance and practically fell into her husband’s arms.

Henry was looking at her to say something.

She shook her head. “Incredible.”

Chapter Four

Abilene gave an annoyed sigh when she saw her father’s big hand shoot out the window and frantically point them off the road. Jim jolted awake, ran his hands through his hair and rubbed his eyes.

“What’s going on?”

Abilene gritted her teeth. “I don’t know. Mom probably has to pee or something.” She hated having to stop driving.

At first the two just sat waiting. Abilene didn’t even unbuckle her seatbelt. But then Jim caught a glimpse of their parents standing on the driver’s side, looking off into the horizon.

“Hm,” he said, opening his door. “I don’t think they’re taking pisses.”

Abilene freed herself and also made her way out of the car. Both siblings were more focused on their parents, Dad with a big awed grin on his face, Mom a more quizzical expression, than on what they were looking at. But as the group came to stand together everyone found themselves staring out into the distance.

“What on earth is that?” Jim said.

Henry patted him on the back. “That’s where we’re working, kid.”

Abilene was surprised, but couldn’t turn her head. “That’s the factory?”

It was on top of the largest hill in the area, at least five miles away. But it towered over the family and what little else covered the surrouning expanse. It was a tremendous box – a perfect cube, Jim would have bet – that against the totally clear sky seemed majestic, and against the empty green landscape loomed somewhat eerily.

The bottom two-thirds were a solid steel gray, the remaining portion similar, but tiled with row on row of mirrored windows. “Think what it’s like when the sun catches on those,” Henry whispered. But with the sun in the sky the way it was it didn’t catch on anything at the time, didn’t even cast a shadow they could see. The only proof of life it emitted came from the red light atop a thin pole protruding from the roof. In a heartbeat rhythm it warned away low flying planes (though Abilene couldn’t remember seeing any sort of aircraft for days) and was actually the least noticeable facet of the building.

All lined up on the side of the road, transfixed by this giant, Mary broke the family’s spell first. “Well, we’re almost there. I imagine the building’ll only get bigger. So let’s get going, huh?”

Henry chuckled and nodded. He was relaxed and happy again, free of all the stress built up in the van. The couple started making their way back to the truck before the two kids had even ceased their gazes. A few moments passed and Abilene looked away, rubbing her eyes to get them used to looking at things close up again. Quickly she was back in the car and buckled, and only Jim remained outside, still looking up and out.

Chapter Five

The remainder of the drive was uneventful. It was a short trip, distance-wise; because their dad was back driving the truck it did take some time. Jim stayed awake, though he and Abilene said very little to each other. The whole time they just looked to the plant, Abilene keeping her eyes on the road only as much as necessary.

Jim’s eyes were eventually drawn to the foreground by the sudden change from fields to yards. Without so much as a sign the highway turned into road, and empty nothing turned into suburb. But despite the rows and rows of nearly identical homes, all two or so stories, the plant remained constantly visible. You could even see it from their new cul-de-sac, up one hill and down another and pleasantly named Lilac Court; regardless of all the driving they had done in the meantime, the view outside their new home looked the same as the one seen earlier at the side of the road.

“Spooky,” said Abilene, leaning against the driver’s door. Jim sat on the hood, while they both waited as their dad tried valiantly to back the moving truck up the driveway. “Do you think it’s haunted?”

Jim twiddled his fingers in his lap.

After ten or so minutes and a few driver changes, their parents eventually got the truck parked where they wanted it. Everyone stood behind as Henry opened up the rear door exposing all of their stuff.

Looking at it all Abilene immediately dreaded having to unload. “Can’t we wait to do this?”

Mary put an arm around her shoulder. “No, now come on. It’ll be dark soon, and then even harder. We’re all tired, but getting it off the truck now is best.”

Henry nodded agreement and tugged at her shirtsleeve. “Come on, Abby, we’ll stand in the truck and hand boxes to your mom and brother.”

Jim furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

Henry rolled his eyes. “Then we’ll switch halfway through.”

So the family began unloading their possessions; not a great deal for a family of four, but enough to get them all sweating pretty quickly. Abilene tried to give Jim all the heavy boxes for complaining about the unloading arrangement (and also as light punishment for the cuss in the car, which she wouldn’t tell her parents about.) Henry was also trying to focus the heavier boxes on Mary, as light punishment for the stress caused by her driving. Once inside, though, Mary and Jim both dropped their heavy boxes right by the front door, knowing they were being saddled and totally unwilling to handle it all alone. They would just wait until everything was off the truck and make sure the other two pitched in.

After five minutes of silence on the truck, Henry tried to make small talk.

“Any plans, Abby?”

Abby nudged a box forward with her foot. “Plans?”

Henry grabbed the box and brought it over to a waiting Mary. “Yeah, you know. Any ideas for how you’re going to fill your days. You’re going to have a lot of freedom this year.”

“Yeah. Here, can you take this too? I don’t know…Jim and I were kind of talking about this in the car. I guess I’d like to get a job or something, but I don’t know where. I don’t even know what’s in this town. Is it just that?”

Abilene was pointing into nothing, but Henry knew she meant the plant. “No, they actually have a nice little downtown type area, it’s a mile or so down the road. Maybe when we’re all done with this, or tomorrow when we’re more rested, we can go down there and check it out.”

Abby picked up a chair and brought it to Jim.

“But, you know, you don’t have to work in a shop or anything. They’ve got schools here, maybe you could tutor.” Abby raised her eyebrows like that might actually be a possibility.

Henry paused, crouched to get a hold on a box of books. He sat down on the floor of the truck and rested his elbows on his knees. “Don’t worry,” he said softly. “You’ll find something good.”

Chapter Six

Mary and Jim sat on boxes in their new living room. Mary wondered how much she could do with this place. Not that they really had the resources to do much, but any effort to make the house seem not bland seemed like it might be futile. She decided to take her mind off it, turning to Jim.

“So, are you excited about the new job?”

Jim chuckled.

“What?”

Shaking his head, Jim said, “No, it’s just Abby asked me the exact same thing in the car.”

“Oh.” Mary was always perplexed at how Jim and Abilene got along. It was almost like they had two distinct relationships. They could go from incredibly civil, showing real concern for each other, to unbelievably cruel – violent, even – in a split second. The violence had ceded greatly since the two finished schooling. But Mary could hardly believe that such a gentle question had passed between them, envisioning Jim’s bloody noses and Abilene’s broken toes. Well, she thought, they had put the two in the same car partly in the hope that they could mend whatever the deal with them was. Maybe it worked.

“What was your answer, then?”

Jim leaned back against the wall. “I mean, yeah, I guess I’m excited. It seems pretty cool. I just wish I knew more about what I’d be doing. Like, will I be cleaning toilets, or on some assassination squad, or what?”

Mary laughed. “You wish, I bet. I know it’s all been really vague. But you’ll be in an office, not on the factory floor with your dad, or in any kind of…covert ops situation. It’ll probably be all the standard stuff. Copying, filing, you know.”

Jim stood up and stretched. “Yeah. Well, then I guess I’m really excited.”

Mary followed his lead, cracking her neck. “Hey, it’s a good paying job. Nothing else, it can look good on a college application.”

Jim smirked.

“Hey, drop the attitude. The whole reason we came here is to try and get our stuff together so we can put you two into college.”

Jim nodded, “Fine,” and headed out the front door.