The Scenic Route

Stan grins, and it's as if he's looking at Kyle from a distance, years into the future, seeing this moment like it's an old picture of Kyle.

"Let go of me!" Stan shouts when Kyle tries to pull him out of the car. He can feel the others watching them, even Cartman saying nothing.

"I don't want to let you go," Kyle says, quietly enough that no one else will hear.

Kyle turns slowly, feeling for the second time today as if the world he's inhabiting is more nightmare than reality, a kind of snow globe that he's become trapped inside, one that somebody keeps savagely shaking every time he thinks he's figured out how to breathe in its glitter-choked water.