Emily Jeanne Miller Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Does THE NEWS FROM THE END OF THE WORLD by Infringe the Copyright of THE FISHER KING by Hayley Kelsey? Orleans MA

Does THE NEWS FROM THE END OF THE WORLD by Emily Jeanne Miller Infringe the Copyright of THE FISHER KING by Hayley Kelsey? Read on to Decide for Yourself (and see more at https://medium.com/@hayleykelseyauthor)

History:

Between May 7-21, 2011, I gave away e-copies of my novel to 25 Goodreads and 20 LibraryThing Free Giveaway winners in exchange for reviews. Miller has been a Goodreads member since November 2007.

On December 13, 2011, I submitted a query letter, synopsis, and first 50 pages of my novel to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which published alleged infringing titles The News from the End of the World and Marrow Island.

On November 5, 2013, I queried agent Amanda Urban at ICM Talent, which represents alleged infringer Emily Jeanne Miller.

On January 19, 2014, I submitted a query letter, synopsis, and first 50 pages of her novel to agent Lisa Bankoff at ICM Talent, who represents Miller. On the same date, I queried agents Jennifer Joel and Heather Schroder at ICM Talent, which represents Miller.

On February 17, 2017, The New from the End of the World was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Does THE NEWS FROM THE END OF THE WORLD Have Striking and Substantial Similarities to THE FISHER KING?

• Similar setting: In The Fisher King: Chesapeake Bay island during off-season. In The News from the End of the World: Cape May island during off-season.
• Identical main characters’ names: In The Fisher King: Vance, Gina. In The News from the End of the World: Vance, Gina.
• Identical minor character’s name: In The Fisher King: Miriam. In The News from the End of the World: Miriam.
• In The Fisher King, generations of Kingsley family have lived on the island for over 200 years; importance of ancestral tie to island. In The News from the End of the World, generations of family have lived on island for 100 years; importance of ancestral tie to Land’s End camp.
• In The Fisher King, King is tyrannical, controlling family patriarch. In The News from the End of the World, Craig is tyrannical, controlling family patriarch.
• In The Fisher King, King and Sonny were successful businessmen who overcapitalized and are now secretly in the red. In The News from the End of the World, Craig was successful businessman who overcapitalized and is now secretly deeply in debt.
• In The Fisher King, two brothers left the island 20 years earlier for college and return while one remained behind. In The News from the End of the World, one brother left the island 20 years earlier for college and returns while one remained behind.
• In The Fisher King, younger brother Wes is dreamy, artistic, unsuited to farming. In The News from the End of the World, younger brother Vance is dreamy, artistic, unsuited to working. 
• In The Fisher King, Gail blames herself for her role in younger brother Wes’s coma and accidental death; guilt-stricken, she makes a misguided attempt to atone for it with husband. In The News from the End of the World, Craig blames herself for his role in first wife Suzanne’s coma and accidental death; guilt-stricken, he makes a misguided attempt to atone for it with daughter. 
• In The Fisher King, Gail becomes pregnant with illegitimate child, keeps it a secret from husband. Teenage Aspen becomes pregnant with illegitimate child. In The News from the End of the World, teenage Amanda  becomes pregnant with illegitimate child, keeps it a secret from uncle.
• In The Fisher King, teenage Aspen becomes pregnant; one parent wants her to have abortion and other does not. In The News from the End of the World, teenage Amanda becomes pregnant; one parent wants her to have abortion and other does not.
• In The Fisher King, Gail struggles against father-in-law King, who physically “traps” her in shed. In The News from the End of the World, Amanda struggles against father Craig, who physically “traps” her under “house arrest.”
• In The Fisher King, Gail’s desire to see husband’s genes replicated in baby leads to irrational behavior, deceit. In The News from the End of the World, Craig’s desire to see deceased wife’s genes replicated in baby leads to irrational behavior, deceit. 
• In The Fisher King, Sonny takes Gail to his private spot, an ancient cemetery. In The News from the End of the World, Kevin takes Amanda to his private spot, an ancient cemetery.
• In The Fisher King, lonely, neglected Gail has affairs with husband’s brothers. In The News from the End of the World, lonely, neglected Gina drifts toward affair with husband’s best friend.
• In The Fisher King, Gail has affairs with teenager sweethearts. In The News from the End of the World, Vance embarks on affair with teenage sweetheart.
• In The Fisher King, Gail’s birth-control counselor aunt squeezes Gail into clinic appointment. Sonny accompanies fasting Gail to fertility clinic for procedure, tries to avoid tempting her with food. In The News from the End of the World, Gina’s college-roommate doctor squeezes Amanda into clinic appointment. Gina accompanies fasting Amanda to abortion clinic for procedure, tries to avoid tempting her with food.
• In The Fisher King, Sonny gets beat up, cut on forehead leaves scar. In The News from the End of the World, Craig gets banged up, cut on forehead leaves scar.
• In The Fisher King, question of foreign guest workers to do menial labor that local kids refuse to do. In The News from the End of the World, foreign guests workers do menial labor that local kids refuse to do.
• In The Fisher King, Gail overhears family members’ conversation through walls. In The News from the End of the World, Vance overhears family members’ conversations through attic vent. 
• In The Fisher King, Aspen has multiple piercings in ears, dyed black hair, goth makeup, “barbed wire” tattoo on bicep; a character has lime green nail polish. In The News from the End of the World, Raina has multiple piercings in ears, dark purple nail polish; Sybil has dyed black hair, goth makeup, “crown of thorns” tattoo on bicep.
• The themes are identical: In The Fisher King, identity is strongly tied to being fifth-generation islanders; importance of passing on family history, loved one’s genes, a future; unresolved guilt over loved one’s death determines a character's misguided actions; all characters are situationally trapped by circumstances of their own making but beyond their control; struggle to become mature, responsible adults; emphasis on lying, shame, exile. In The News from the End of the World, identity is strongly tied to being fifth-generation islanders; importance of passing on family history, loved one’s genes, a future; unresolved guilt over loved one’s death determines a character's misguided actions; all characters are situationally trapped by circumstances of their own making but beyond their control; struggle to become mature, responsible adults; emphasis on lying, shame, exile.
• The denouements are identical: In The Fisher King, King's business deeply in debt, he loses everything; Homebody Sonny finally moves from innocence to experience, finally leaves home to gain independence and maturity. Gail finally comes to terms with her guilt and stops trying to control husband Sonny. In The News from the End of the World, Craig's business deeply in debt, he loses everything; Vagabond Vnce finally moves from innocence to experience, finally remains home to gain responsibility and maturity. Craig finally comes to terms with his guilt and stops trying to control daughter Amanda.

Does THE NEWS FROM THE END OF THE WORLD Have Plot and Theme Similarities to THE FISHER KING?

There are the eight main elements that comprise the “heart” on which The Fisher King turns, and The News from the End of the World takes five of them:

1. Work and lack of work—The importance of work to identity and how its lack robs characters of

identity and responsibility; greed caused big business to fail. 

2. Community—The importance of community and family to loyalty, sense of belonging, identity.             

3. Setting—The importance of place, specifically island, and historical connection to it, to identity.

4. Inheritance—The importance of inheriting and passing on: island, family history, genes.

5. Illegitimacy—Main female character has affair and illegitimate pregnancy.

Does THE NEWS FROM THE END OF THE WORLD Have Line-by-Line Similarities to THE FISHER KING?

11—Similar setting: Cape Cod island  SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 5—Trappe Island

3-throughout—Vance IDENTICAL TO 69-77, 124, 135—Vance

3—When he opens his eyes it’s dark, and it takes a few moments for him to remember where he is SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 154—I’d open my eyes in the utter blackness and be disoriented for a distraught second—where was I?

5-throughout—Gina IDENTICAL TO 189-throughout—Gina 

5—Miriam IDENTICAL TO 69—Miriam

6—silently willing her to go 8—willing his brother or Gina to come upstairs 47—she...willing him to go.  SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 130—I silently implored him...I willed him to put his foot on the transom 308—willing him to leave quietly 406—I...willing it to tell me what to do.

7—he’s aware of drops of spittle leaving her lips and landing on his STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 21—his saliva sprayed my face. 86—Spittle misted my face. 

9—Her face is so close he can smell her breath, a little fruity STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 307—His breath was like a blast of hot, fruity air. 60—His warm breath, faintly fruity

9—Vance realizes that their voices are coming up through the vent. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 225—After a minute, the murmur of low voices filtered through the wall.

11—her hair is bleached white with a fringe of hot pink on the ends...Craig recognizes her accent as Slavic ... Most come for the summer, on J-I’s sponsored by local businesses, mostly food service...Plenty of people have a problem with it—giving jobs to foreign kids instead of local ones—but not him. He’s heard how hard they work—twice as hard as their American counterparts. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 155-156—a black-haired teenager...I could tell from her lack of accent that she wasn’t from the Eastern Shore. 288—At issue was whether it should support immigrant “guest workers” that the government let into the U.S. each summer to pick up overflow seasonal work...the government annually grants 66,000 temporary work visas to foreigners eager to do the menial work that Americans refuse to do. They came...to fill positions in the tourist resorts. 288-289—A lot of watermen took umbrage at what they saw as local kids who were afraid to “roll up their shirtsleeves and get their hands dirty,” which led to a gripe session about how the younger generation in this country was getting soft. 

12—her nametag says Raina...She has multiple piercings in her ears, five or six small silver hoops in each one...and high on the left helix, a single silver skull...Her fingernails are painted dark purple 18—her name tag. “Amber,” it read. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 155-156—a black-haired teenager… Her ears were also pierced in dozens of spots from the lobes along the ridges to the top 67—Her long nails were decorated with intricate spiral designs on lime green polish

15—eelgrass...the ocean sparkling like a field of gems. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 108—eelgrass 403—“those fish sparkled like gold!”

18—He draws one lungful of it [air], then another, gulping it greedily down. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 336—The damp air...I found myself breathing more and more deeply, gulping down great lungfuls of it.

21—her cheeks are flushed, whether from embarrassment or the steam he doesn’t know...her eyes look bleary. Is she ill? He feels his heart contract. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 417—My mother’s cheeks were flushed. 376—His face was florid, although whether from anger or illness, I couldn’t tell. 236—My face was wet, but whether it was from my tears or his I couldn’t tell. 314—but whether they were coming from him or me I couldn’t tell. 14—Bleary-eyed. 358—bleary-eyed. 229—What if he were ill?

24—This last part, at least, is true, or it very well could be. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 329—Then it occurred to me that what he’d asked was true in a way or could be.

26—He’s heard her speak this was to Craig plenty of times, but never—not once in the seventeen-plus years she’s been alive—to him. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 402—he shot me a cautionary glance of such primal, animal warning...It was a look I recognized from feral barn cats with a field mouse in their sights but had never once seen on Sonny’s face.

31—”Please look at me when I’m speaking to you.” SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 35—“Look at me when I’m talking to you.”

34—-a set of colored plastic rings STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 356—a brightly-colored oversized plastic key ring.

37—What she wasn’t prepared for...was the fatigue: the ceaseless, soul-crushing fatigue that has her feeling half conscious...most of the time [during pregnancy] SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 353—[fatigue] knocked me completely out. Several times a day waves of fatigue would send me to the sofa for hours at a time.

39—Amanda...like some sort of captive. 86—”I’m on lockdown.” 182—“Hence the house arrest.” SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 89—no matter where I turned the door was bolted. There was no escape.  90—I was a virtual prisoner. 149—he’d masterminded to imprison me. 265—I was a prisoner. 323—my imprisonment in King’s shed. 396—“you were a virtual prisoner in the shed seven days a week.”

40—her stepdaughter is doing everything she can to pretend...that what’s happening isn’t. Denial: it’s immature, and moreover, futile, but one doesn’t need to look far to see where she learned this particular skill [from father] STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 352—I wanted to...trick my mind into pretending the whole fraught summer had never happened. 381—I did my best to...pretend we weren’t living on borrowed time. 7—His response was, characteristically, denial...he quoted his father. 208—King’s reluctance to give them a platform...stem from his state of denial. 277—the depth of my denial. 

43—She has a barbed wire tattoo circling her ample upper arm. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 155—[She] sported two tattoos: on her left bicep, a fierce-looking cross of thorns.

43—Sybil has transformed herself...dying her hair black and wearing exclusively black...eye makeup STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 341—Without her makeup and...with her black hair dye washed out...she was transformed.

44—”to be in, like, Alaska?” “home for, like, a while?” “is having, like, a gathering” SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 157—”I, like, wasn’t welcome”...”I’d be, like, a mother”  229—”considered, like, rock bottom” 230—”counts had, like, dropped...in, like, the water...there are, like, a gazillion...with, like, all the time...theory that, like, liberal use.” 231—”body, like, interferes with”

47—dropping his r’s in the traditional New England way. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 90—Their dropped “r”s...lent a lilt to their words.

48—Closing the toilet seat, she sits down...She hates deceiving him. She’s never had to before, and it’s painful, carrying out this charade. Not that she’s considering telling him [father…he’d be so disappointed…She…faces herself [in mirror]. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 225—I sat down on the closed toilet seat. 63—I’d never deceived Sonny before, not even with so much as a white lie. 304—I saw how much carrying around Sonny’s secret was weighing on me and how alone I felt with it. 383—I’m not sure why I was reluctant to tell them, to tell my father 24—King’s disappointment was a terrible thing. 56—it was days before I could face myself in the mirror

49-50—”I’ve been totally cooped up in the house.” She wasn’t lying about being cooped up. Ever since she got home, Craig’s been treating her like a prisoner. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 159—I might as well have been cooped up in an office all day as in the shed. 90—I was a virtual prisoner. 265—I was a prisoner 396—you were a virtual prisoner. 149—he’d [King] masterminded to imprison me.

54—It was a freak accident...She went into a coma…and then she died. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 120—”brother’s been in an accident.” 121—he slipped into a coma from which he never woke up.

55—she finds herself tongue-tied. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 77—I was tongue-tied. 

57—he turns the key in the ignition. The engine sparks and turns over but doesn’t catch. He tries again but it doesn’t even turn over...He turns the key again. This time the engine revs. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 174—He...reached for the ignition…but it refused to catch. He tried a few more times...the engine as it struggled to turn over...He hunched over and twisted the key hard…it suddenly caught.

 62—tossing a handful of oyster shells shards at Dylan’s [adolescent girlfriend] window SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 106—Don crouched outside my window and pinged pebbles off the glass     

66—he’ll have to lie, which he dislikes even more. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 131—It wasn’t in him to lie. 132—His honesty wouldn’t permit him to...lie. 179—Sonny was a hopeless liar.

73—Gina...admonishes herself for being so petty. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 323—My fleeting moment of payback now seemed petty 137—I felt small and petty and ashamed.

75—Rachel, her doctor friend. 239—knows the clinic. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 14—Amy, a family planning counselor. 122—she took me to her clinic.

79—[baby] Cam stares at the display, transfixed STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 410—[baby] Andy stared as though hypnotized.

86—fishing his car keys out  103—Fishing for the Ziploc bag 130—he fishes his sunglasses out of his messenger bag  204—fishing the item out  SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 411—I fished around in my bag. 70—I fished around in my purse 59—fished around for my diaphragm.

93—He spears three cherries from a plastic tub on a tiny, clear-plastic sword STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 248—I reached into shallow troughs with tiny plastic swords, spearing maraschino cherries

97—he elected to spend on a salmon-fishing boat on the Bering Sea—as far away as he could get from the Cape. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 425—I often picture Sonny onboard a fishing vessel in the roiling Bering Sea

107—She watches the side of his face; she can see his jaw muscle working. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 174—I could see the shadows on his face shift as his jaw clenched.

108—”You don’t seem very glad,” she ventures. “Don’t I?” he says, turning to look at the yard. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 292—I said. “you don’t seem exactly jubilant in victory.”...“Uh, I’m happy.”...He averted his gaze and stared out the screen.

116—His hair sticks up at all angles, his eyes are rimmed in red SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 120—His hair stuck up crazily around his head 251—His hair stuck up here and there. 393—Don’s hair stuck up in places. 368—made my hair stick out wildly. 259—His hair stood up 12—His eyes were red-rimmed. 414—Wes’s eyes were red-rimmed.

124-125—there he was, behind the bar, looking like he’d been waiting for her...and when she came out, drying her hands on her skirt, he actually was waiting for her. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 249—when I glanced towards the bar he was still there...Something about his attentiveness, his willingness to hang around for hours waiting for me seemed to go beyond mere family feeling.

132—He makes a pyramid with his fingers...he lets go...and stands up. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 169—tented his hands together. 298—hands tented. 204—touched his fingertips together. 276—Gradually, my hands released their grip on the sink. I straightened up.

132—pu**y  201—”maybe you’re a giant pu**y,” IDENTICAL TO 176—their response said pu**y

138—Craig felt as if all the blood had been drained from his body; he couldn’t feel his limbs.  SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 314—My limbs became shaky as though all the blood had drained out of them

143—he kissed her. It felt like the most exciting thing in the world and also like the most normal, like it was supposed to happen.  SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 119—When we kissed for the first time it felt familiar. It was almost as though I already knew what it would be like...before it happened.

163—the clock radio, and he goes to it and presses various buttons until it comes on…and at the moment a man is reading the daily fishing report.  SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 48—switched on the radio, and adjusted the dial to the evening farm report. 14—me with The International Fisheries Market Report. 

168—But something else is nagging him, the connection his mind won’t quite make. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 277—The question had been nagging at me...I kept reaching for it but it remained stubbornly elusive, and I couldn’t seem to…make the connection. 

172—She won’t look at him, so he addresses the side of her face  SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 86—he wouldn’t look at me 24—I...addressed the side of his face

179—She can feel his eyes on her, but she won’t give him the satisfaction of looking up STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 250—I could feel his eyes on me. 265—I felt his eyes on me. 21—I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. 302—I wouldn’t give King the satisfaction 360—I refused to give him the satisfaction. 

179-180—”I don’t really know how to explain,” she begins. “Try.” She...buying some time. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 61—“I can’t explain,” I whispered, helplessly. “Try.” I opened my mouth, closed it again. 346—I was...stalling for time.

180—”I liked this one girl, Kelsey, a lot.” IDENTICAL TO 1—by Hayley Kelsey

191—she can practically see the synapses firing inside his head. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 280—I could almost hear him thinking. 

192—She sweeps her tongue across her upper lip, tasting salt. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 270—dry the faint dots of perspiration beading my upper lip.

199—”I thought you knew.” She shakes her head NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 157—“I thought you knew.” I shook my head vigorously.

201—He comes and stands beside her, close, so close she can feel the warmth coming off his skin. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 303—Don stepped into the shed and stood next to me. 235—he radiated a continuous level of heat, like a furnace. 311—his skin...and the heat it radiated.

206—he’d had the notion that history was repeating itself...Here, finally was the price he had to pay. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 224—it seemed...that history was repeating itself 55—it was a high price to pay. 172—it would be a small price to pay

208—He can feel the antipathy coming off his brother like gas. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 85—Terror radiated from him in waves.

209—Vance...watches the muscles in his jaw move under his skin SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 174—I could see the shadows on his face shift as his jaw clenched.

221—She doesn’t know what an abortion is, but it’s clear from the way they shout at each other that it’s something big. She thought of asking Mrs. Forrest at school...Abortion, abortion: at first she thought it might be some kind of car, but that doesn’t seem right.  SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 40—Although I didn’t understand all the allusions or words describing them—adultery, illegitimate—I grasped their importance from the fervor that shook her voice. 42—It was on the tip of my tongue to ask what adultery meant...It must be something adults did, hence the word. I’d have to remember it to use it in my spelling bee on Tuesday.

231—He wasn’t much older, eighteen, legally an adult…All that summer he’d been sneaking into her mother’s house, spending the small hours entwined with her in her single bed, sneaking back out before dawn. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 100—”Don’s eighteen. Legally, he’s a man in this state.” 116— “You’re eighteen,” I said. “Legally, that makes you a man in this state…” 119—find him outside my window. It was hot and still...My single bed was narrow and whenever Sonny moved over me. 120—We were awakened at dawn...He took off running.

235—she pretends she’s asleep, and she goes on pretending, keeping her eyes closed and breathing slow, even breaths SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 106—while I pretended to be asleep. 65—His slow, even breathing 62—He was lying on his side facing the wall, breathing evenly but not asleep.

239—”Rachel...she’s a doctor now—knows the clinic. They had a two-week wait but she made some calls.” SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 14—Amy, a family planning counselor. 122—she took me to her clinic. 358—“Come back in six weeks and I’ll try to squeeze you in for another checkup.”

243—the ships-in-bottles her father used to collect...She wonders, not for the first time SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 394—Sonny had hung a mobile fashioned from a ship-in-a-bottle kit he’d put together as a boy. 5—I thought, not for the first time

244—Amanda follows the nurse through the door, into a corridor where a piece of paper taped to the front of a vending machine proclaims, No eating or drinking before surgery. This includes candy and soda, Ladies!!!...Gina is holding a can of Diet Coke, and a foil bag of Cheez-Its sits open on her lap. “Sorry to torture you again,” she says. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 168—a nurse...led me down the hall. 167—I had been instructed not to eat anything for ten hours prior to the procedure so skipped breakfast. At noon, Sonny slipped downstairs to the vending machines and brought back two sandwiches before remembering I couldn’t eat one. Rather than eat in front of me—I was salivating—he ducked out into the hall... Sonny slipped a candy bar into my pocket to much during recovery.

245—[In car] she closes her eyes. When she opens them, they’re crossing into (Connecticut Welcomes You)...she starts feeling a little lightheaded. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 172—I settled back in my [car] seat and let my eyes fall shut. 319—A few miles later, I crossed the state line into Pennsylvania. Even without white-wigged William Penn’s welcoming billboard. 231—Lightheaded

256-257—The waiting room, thankfully, is quiet—almost too quiet...She approaches the desk, where the receptionist...gives her a clipboard with a stack of papers to fill out, which she does, providing information about her medical and sexual history while Gina pretends not to watch over her shoulder, but she doesn’t bother trying to hide what she writes. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 166—The waiting room was nothing if not soothing. 167—a nurse called Sonny’s name...He went up to the counter...with the other patients, all of us bent over clipboards filling out detailed medical histories. The only sound was the scratching of pencils and erasers whispering back and forth...The sheet didn’t shy away from personal questions, including number of sexual partners and preferred positions...as I filled in the blanks, covering them with my hand as if this were a sort of quiz, and I was shielding my answers from cheaters peeking over my shoulder.

261—shakes his head, like he’s trying to clear it. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 173—I shook my head once, twice, to clear it. 128—I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

268—propane...he passes the laundromat and the...Elks Lodge  146—propane 253, 421—Laundromat 207—Elks Hall