Before the Fall

by Noah Hawley

unviable, given the pilot’s thorough visual examination

together why Bill came. Another part is parsing

of her voice. “What about your husband?” he asks. “There are very few things he likes.” “You?” A pause. “Sometimes.” They think about that for a while. From the bedroom, Scott hears a sigh, but he can’t tell if it’s a human noise or a sound effect off the screen. “Okay,” says Scott. “Sun’ll be up soon. Try to get a nap today.” “Thanks,” she says. “Have a nice day.” A nice day. The simplicity of it makes him smile. “You too,” he says. After they hang up, Scott lies there for

born,” he says, “he weighed three pounds. This

further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the

that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge.

something and not nothing? For spiritualists, of course, the answer is God. But James was more interested in a rational blueprint of the universe, down to the