Crackled

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — At the height of the Cold War, the RAND Corporation crackled with the collective energy of the best brains the Pentagon could find to tackle the biggest threat.

I crackled with laughter, perhaps uncontrollably, at the serene waves of the on the screen.

It was the same shirt I'd stolen off a friend and lived in until the cotton was worn into a buttery softness and the printed words had crackled until barely legible.

Prison officer Linda was seen performing a lewd act and having sex with a burly lag as her discarded radio crackled with messages.

Then the captain's voice crackled over the intercom: "Rapid descent, be seated.

After the interval, his high-velocity Beethoven crackled with muscular rhythmic energy.

The place crackled, with the Tottenham fans stationed on the White Wall getting to grips with this first leg.

I always thought the place smelled like moth balls and the stairs were spooky as they creaked and crackled with every step.

Lightning crackled across the sky and rain poured as my brave little pickup leaped and swerved its way from the island’s small navigable beachhead to the Horizon Festival proper.

The energy crackled through the air.

The skin has not crackled enough.