The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime that Changed Their Lives (2017)

“In a moment, everything will be set in motion.” 

Slater repeats the phrase “In a moment” to emphasize how quickly and how irrevocably an action can change people’s lives. She is fascinated by how easily the incident could have been prevented; how easily Richard could have failed to spark the flame that consumed Sasha and then both of their lives.

“There must be something you can do.”

By addressing the reader directly, Slater makes the point that the encounter between Richard and Sasha has its roots in political, economic, and social structures in which we are all complicit. Though this line imagines that the reader could have prevented this specific incident, the larger point is that we must take action to prevent incidents like this from happening again. 

“Our lives make footprints, tracks in the snows of time.”

Slater’s use of imagery signals her commitment to telling this story more closely and with more emotion than standard reporting might. By comparing lives to “tracks in the snows” she is suggesting our lives are ephemeral and impermanent, which is both in support of, and in contrast to, the way Richard’s actions impact him and Sasha and their families.