I'M MAKING THIS SHIT UP AS I GO

  Many years ago, I knew a woman with a name I don’t member. It was Irish-like. Irish names use letters and phonetics in a way unnatural to the human tongue. Pronunciations for the likes of sea witches and banshees. Anyway… let’s call her Moira. Moria was from up North somewhere. I believe she had relocated to the Appalachian Mountains due to a relationship that didn’t work out. She was stuck here until she could figure her way back home. We had crossed paths via online personal ads or a dating site or something like that. We chatted a few times but hadn't met. She wanted to once, but I chickened out. I believe that subconsciously I knew I wasn’t ready to be ravaged by this Irish storm. Sometimes adventure calls and you have to say no for your own health and safety. Anyway, we drifted apart as quickly as we met, and I assumed that I would never hear from Moira ever again. But then one day, months later, after work there was a voicemail on my phone. Moira needed help. I’m paraphra...

There was nothing alarming about the vape shop that replaced the GameStop. Vape shops had been popping up around town over the past several months. Yet I couldn’t help but notice that something had changed. As much as I want to blame myself for not seeing it sooner, there was no way I could have known. Who could have? Even if I could have predicted our downfall, I’m not sure I could’ve changed anything. I simply would have had to experience everything with the absence of hope. What I didn’t know then was that this vape store, and all the other vape shops were located in precise intervals spread over town. Gary Summers, my God rest his soul, showed this to me on a map once. He also showed me a chart showing the exponential growth patterns. What started as 2 vape shops spread over a 20-mile area quickly became 4 shops spread equidistantly. Only a few months later there were 16 vape stores. When there were 256, it was already too late. As aggressive as the growth was, it was still subtl...