One bit of constancy to the world (especially these days, with less to reliably ground us) is that things can change in an instant. One minute you’re having a rather nice day, reading a new novel on the dock after a quick and refreshing swim or walking on your favorite trail in the woods, the ground dappled with late afternoon sunlight, and the next minute you hear the ping of an incoming text message.

Looking back, you watch yourself reach for the phone, still feeling relaxed and loose, not realizing that scary news sits there like a spring, tightly wound inside a string of words, ready to unfurl rapidly and blaze hotly like a comet across your day.