In the Wild Light: Chapter 49–Epilogue

by Jeff Zentner
Cash and Delaney's friendship is tested when they get the chance to leave their working-class community to study at an elite prep school.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–8, Chapters 9–22, Chapters 23–34, Chapters 35–48, Chapter 49–Epilogue
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. emanate
    proceed or issue forth, as from a source
    He usually emanates cheery, unflappable confidence. The kind that makes you believe him when he says he's going to be president someday.
  2. unflappable
    not easily perturbed, excited, or upset
    He usually emanates cheery, unflappable confidence. The kind that makes you believe him when he says he's going to be president someday.
  3. abysmal
    exceptionally bad or displeasing
    “No, they already lit me up for that. Trust. This relates to something other than my abysmal academic performance.”
  4. rueful
    feeling or expressing pain or sorrow
    “Haven't we established my praying results in disaster?" Alex says with a rueful laugh.
  5. somnolent
    inclined to or marked by drowsiness
    My speech is dry and somnolent.
  6. grouse
    complain
    I jam some clothes into a bag by the light of my phone while Tripp grouses.
  7. derelict
    worn and broken down by hard use
    Sawyer is lifeless and dull in the dim, biting February morning. Naked branches on barren trees, derelict storefronts, lawns the color of sighs, with moribund cars decaying on them.
  8. moribund
    being on the point of death
    Sawyer is lifeless and dull in the dim, biting February morning. Naked branches on barren trees, derelict storefronts, lawns the color of sighs, with moribund cars decaying on them.
  9. aseptic
    free of pathological microorganisms
    It's not the aseptic smell of cleanliness, but of a barren place, where it's hard for any living thing, even germs, to survive.
  10. listless
    lacking zest or vivacity
    Mamaw sits by his side and holds his hand as he watches a game show through bleary and listless eyes.
  11. pallid
    pale, as of a person's complexion
    He's pallid—his skin a drab, leaden yellow—and scraggy.
  12. throes
    violent pangs of suffering
    This is his disease. It twitches in its death throes, robbed of the host body on which it fed.
  13. stupor
    a state of being half-awake
    Blood streams from her right thumb. A drop hits Papaw's sheet with a pat, and it snaps me out of my stupor.
  14. indignantly
    in a manner showing anger at something unjust or wrong
    “You can't be cussing people like that here," the guard says indignantly.
  15. fervently
    with strong emotion or zeal
    Delaney finally connects her heel with Billy's shin and the back of her head with his nose, and he drops her, cursing fervently (I guess he's allowed to cuss in the hospital) and cupping his nose.
  16. dilapidated
    in a state of decay, ruin, or deterioration
    I finally find her in Sawyer's dilapidated downtown park—pale; huddled, hugging her knees; and near catatonic—on the peeling steps of the bandstand.
  17. ambient
    completely enveloping
    I sit, working on a poem to little avail, listening to Papaw's labored respiration, the muted beeps of his monitors, the ambient mechanical speech of the hospital's intercom system.
  18. gloaming
    the time of day immediately following sunset
    “Tell you a story,” Papaw says in his pale whisper, barely audible above the noise of his mask, as he visibly summons himself from the gloaming.
  19. elegy
    a mournful poem; a lament for the dead
    We surrender him to the dark water like we’re loosing a flight of doves into the dusk. No elegy but our tears.
  20. colloquial
    characteristic of informal spoken language or conversation
    "Well, colloquially, sometimes people will respond to a question by saying ‘Hell no,' and I'm not generally given to use of profanity, but on this occasion—”
  21. alight
    settle or come to rest
    A snowflake meanders earthward and alights in Delaney's hair.
  22. relinquish
    release, as from one's grip
    The sky relinquishes its grasp, and they fall thicker and faster, swirling all around us.
  23. bereavement
    state of sorrow over the death or departure of a loved one
    I'm glad she's not hurting too, but now I'm well and truly alone in bereavement.
  24. solace
    comfort offered to one who is disappointed or miserable
    I'll send her a note with it, telling her what a solace poetry has been to me, that it brought Papaw some comfort in his last hours, and that I'll always make it part of my inconsequential life.
  25. inconsequential
    lacking worth or importance
    I'll send her a note with it, telling her what a solace poetry has been to me, that it brought Papaw some comfort in his last hours, and that I'll always make it part of my inconsequential life.
  26. quell
    overcome or allay
    I think maybe my love for my friends and Dr. Adkins is enough, with the help of poetry, to lift me up and carry me to some temperate shore, to quell the insistent, grinding ache and let me continue here.
  27. parry
    impede the movement of
    I ignore Tripp and again parry his attempt to push me out.
  28. inaugural
    serving to set in motion
    First I had my inaugural plane ride, to see Papaw die. Now I’m on my first ambulance ride, going to the hospital with a cracked skull.
  29. inauspicious
    boding ill
    I have a CT scan, another inauspicious first.
  30. altercation
    a noisy, angry argument or fight between people
    "We have convened an emergency session of the Disciplinary Council, and we have determined your altercation with Patrick McGrath to be both an act of self-defense and an act of defense of a fellow student.”
  31. corroborate
    support with evidence or authority or make more certain
    Witnesses at the scene corroborated your account of the events as you related them.
  32. contingency
    a possible event or occurrence or result
    "Middleford has a fund for such contingencies. We will handle everything. Rest and give it no thought.”
  33. incorporeal
    without material form or substance
    In my dream, I yearn
    for something to lift
    that weight from the door,

    To make it as incorporeal
    as smoke or light,
    so I’m not pushing against the gravity
    of my own blood.
  34. benediction
    a blessing or ceremonial prayer invoking divine protection
    As it comes time for lights-out, Alex kneels on his bed to begin his private benedictions.
  35. tangible
    perceptible by the senses, especially the sense of touch
    I see his face every day. His absence is so tangible it has its own body.
  36. klaxon
    a loud electric horn
    Every meter is in the red, every Klaxon sounding.
  37. obliging
    showing a cheerful willingness to do favors for others
    Alex and I kneel, and she obligingly stands between us. We’d all heard about this Middleford tradition.
  38. proctor
    someone who supervises (an examination)
    We get to the end of the hall and run back. Then we repeat. Until the proctors make us stop.
  39. enrapture
    hold spellbound
    "Wow,” I murmur, enraptured.
  40. sultry
    characterized by oppressive heat and humidity
    Insects buzz in the sultry June dusk.
Created on Thu Mar 10 10:08:49 EST 2022 (updated Fri Mar 18 10:53:43 EDT 2022)

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