and surveys the piles of paper. She knows

each pile by sight now and can recount their

various histories - how they came into being,

how they grew and developed, separated and

became new piles. She moves slowly through

the office, stopping occasionally to touch a

pile like a parent absent-mindedly fondling a

child's head.

The woman is not thinking about what she

does. She is thinking about leaving. She has

rehearsed it many times before. In her mind's

eye, she can see the journey they are about to

make, the days they will spend together

driving across the desert with nothing to look

at except the road and the sky and the red dirt.

This is their chance to really get to know each

other.

Perhaps they are travelling into the night and

she is asleep in the back. The rain has

stopped now and she can hear the gentle

drone of the radio, the soft, dreamy voice

which speaks to her from deep within the

body of the car.

The woman kneels in front of a pile. By the

time she has finished here, the man will have

found a car. It's just a matter of waiting.

Something always turns up. It doesn't matter

what sort it is so long as it has a good engine.

One careful owner, no rust. Runs well.

Absolutely nothing to spend.

The woman feels the weight of the lighter in

the palm of her hand, the smooth metallic

case cool against her skin. She flips open the

lid, psst, and a little yellow flame springs to

life.

Soon, flames are climbing up the pile, racing

to reach the top, eating into the heart of the

paper so that before the top layers are alight,

the pile is already lurching to one side.

The woman continues on, stopping now and

then to allow a new flame to take hold and

spread and grow. At the entrance to the fire

escape, she pauses and looks back at the

pillars of fire sighing and collapsing under the

weight of combustion. The flames scurry

across the floor and along the ceiling, joining

together with a delighted WHOOF. When the

heat reaches a certain intensity, the windows

explode in a fine spray of glass and the

long

ago

when

we

sat

by

the