Along the way we were menaced by a daredevil who tried to run us off the twisty coastal precipice of Highway 1. The episode frightened us all, even my mother, who was clutching the
wheel as if thinking this is what happens to women who are alone
in the world. Somehow, we survived, pulled off the road and found a place where we could stay the night and wait for morning’s light. The motel we stayed at was overrun by crickets, as was the rest of the area that season, and my sisters and mother spent most of the night knocking the large brown insects off the ceilings and walls and away from our beds so that my brother
and I, half-hysterical, could sleep.

– from 24 Frames (essay)

AUDIO