o  n  e
                   h  u  n  d  r  e  d
                       a  n  d
             t  h  i  r  t  y  -  t  w  o
         m  i  n    u  t  e  s

           t  o
                d   i   e.

It happened on the Jellicoe Road.
The prettiest road I'd ever seen,
where trees made
                             b
                                r
                                   e
                                 e
                                 z
                                    y
                                       canopies like a tunnel to Shangri-la.
We were going to the ocean, hundreds of miles away,
because I wanted to see the ocean
and my father said that it was about time
the four of us made that journey.


I remember asking,
"What's the difference between   a   t r i p   and  a   j  o  u  r  n  e  y  ?  "
and my father said,
"Narnie, my love, when we get there, you'll understand,"
and that was
                t h e
                     l   a   s   t
              t   h   i   n   g
                       h  e
                     e   v   e   r
                s  a  i  d  .





                                                                            We heard her almost straightaway.
                                                                            In the other car, wedged into ours so deep
                                                                            that you couldn't tell
                                                                                         where   o n e    b  e  g  a  n
                                                                                            a n d
                                                                                 the   o t h e r    e  n  d  e  d  .
                                                                            She told us her name was Tate
                                                                            and then she squeezed through
                                                                                 the    g  l  a  s  s
                                                                                       a n d
                                                                               the    s  t  e  e  l
                                                                            and climbed over her own dead—
                                                                            just to be with Webb and me;
                                                                            to give us her hand
                                                                            so we could clutch it with all our might.



And then a kid called Fitz came
riding by on a stolen bike
   a n d
       s  a  v  e  d
         o u r
     l   i   v   e    s.

Someone asked us later,
"Didn't you wonder
why no one came across you sooner?"


                                            Did     I        w  o    n      d        e          r            ?


When you see your parents
zipped up in black body bags
on the Jellicoe Road
like they're some kind of garbage,

d o n ' t   y o u   k n o w ?

                                                                                                  W  o    n      d        e          r
                                                                                                                                                          d        i      e    s  .