In spite of the noise and the smell, Rachel was glad to be back. Not to be back in Georgetown exactly—she had no particular attachment to it, and would not miss it once she was gone—but to be back among people and all the imperfections of a man-made world. It invigorated her, made her mind and her purpose sharp and clear. Her time in the forest had felt like floating, caught in the gaps between life’s moments rather than inhabiting them in all their richness.
