She does. There's not a guy, for a moment, for a moment they don't need to have a guy. It's not about that anyway, it's about dancing.

Kindness is a very specific thing. It's my third-favorite word, after integrity and compassion -- it's the opposite of "nice," nice people should be shot on sight -- and it's probably the strongest one, because it doesn't announce itself. It's something you give, not something you take. It doesn't ask for recognition, because it's always already there, at the very back of the cave: Fanny wasn't nice to Boo, though she was kind, and she hasn't been very nice to Michelle Simms. Then, though, Michelle Simms hasn't been very nice to Michelle Simms.

Life hasn't been very nice to Michelle Simms. But, she thinks, it could be kind.

When Truly runs into the bar, Michelle's drunk on kindness; she dares Truly to take a shot and see if she likes her better. But that isn't why Truly's there, shaking, babbling. She's there because Fanny and Michelle disappeared, to negotiate, and Hubbell went to find them. To bring them back home again. And while he was out searching for them, he died.

Nothing waits for you. It all just moves on. There are some moments where -- stupid enough to hope, stupid enough to believe in kindness for one second -- you can imagine the life that the person is talking about. Just as an exercise, you can imagine giving in. You can believe, for a moment, in the unexpected life. And then time slips away again.

JACOB CLIFTON is a freelance writer and critic based in Austin, Texas. He currently recaps The Killing , Bunheads , Pretty Little Liars and True Blood for TWoP. Jacob can be found online at jacobclifton.com, on Twitter, and on FaceBook. IRL work appears in BenBella's SmartPop series of anthologies, and novelette "The Commonplace Book" will appear on Tor.com in October 2012, and this recap was twice as long as he wanted it to be.