The story "Afterglow" explores a portion of the lives of two characters from Engel's novel "High Range Driving" (unrepresented at present). Gerald Ballantine is floating through life, unsure of his relationship to anything or anyone, and when his father dies, the unresolved issues between the two give him even more cause for doubt. Ballantine's Uncle Lester provides hime with the confidence and assurance that he needs to continue on. Lester is based not so much on actual linemen with whom Engel worked, but the general attitudes of the high voltage linemen with whom he worked. That is, there wasn't a job they couldn't do, or any men that they weren't better than. Ballantine is so impressed with the performance that Lester puts on, the ability to turn the lights out on the town, that he eventually decides to follow in his father's and uncle's footsteps, and become a lineman himself. "High Range Driving" is the story of how Ballantine leaves the powerlines and begins to live his life for himself.