Vidal Gore — Eighteen Seventy [2322]

I AM IN Cincinnati. I cannot think how Jamie got me to make the trip. After all, the Associated Press does this sort of reporting far better than I. But here I am, after a sleepless night in the cars. — Vidal Gore, Eighteen Seventy, 2322

Note

The opening line is direct and immersive, instantly placing the reader in the narrator’s perspective and setting. The phrase ‘a sleepless night in the cars’ evokes a strong sense of exhaustion and travel, setting the mood.