“You feel disoriented, May,” the hum said. “You are unsure how to be in the world as it is now. You know the world is damaged, but you don’t know what that means for the lives of your children. You want to prepare them for the future, but you are scared to picture the future. You are seeking inside yourself the scrappiness, the courage, that will power the rest of your life. Am I right, May?”

