On brush crew in Los Padres, Cindergal begs to work the line. When there, she’s useless. Snot, smoke, ash. A choked axe, Cindergal is slow on her shovel. Her daydream—blasting past Olympic legend Francie Larrieu—almost cost her crew their lives. An electric fence fries a fawn, awakens her. Promoted to torch crew, Cinder lures a blaze with a blaze. Cornered in a deep ravine, Cindergal is ground down footfall by footfall. So she says, “yes.” Her bald-headed crew chief–a zero-sum baby-boomer—proposes, promises to buy her houseboat in the burnt-over quarter of the flood-ravaged east.
Cinder! Composing beautifully simultaneous with fire tragedy and Susquehanna floods.