if the computer system went down in the fall ... spades , it must be the middle of the night . cheeks flushed and eyes sparkling as if it were their wedding night . i asked him in awe as he pried the lid open . the two-lane flattened out and the drainage ditches on each side of the pavement were slowly replaced with short dense trees crowding in toward the road to escape the power lines above them . good fortune was n't enough to save him ; or rather , he would n't let it . 