Jed drew his breath in with astonishment, his face and torso awash in warm rush of the sunset. He unclasped his hands from the wheel of the aging tractor drawing them back and out at an even pace, as if flinging them in slow motion towards a position of exultation. He didn't exhale as an epiphany rolled through his inner mindscape like a suddenly fallen apple rolling down a sloping blanket of grass, dimpled with roots, seeds and the rest of Nature's miscellaneous detritus.

"None of this is real," he thought, and the moment seemed to last an eternity.