At first he was infuriated by his sickness, but eventually he came to regard it as an invaluable lesson that despite your best efforts, sometimes you simply cannot guarantee your own safety. He stopped hating himself.
Human Flesh
“How did you know you could marry him?”
“During breakfast I told him I didn’t like to eat bacon because the striped fatty bits reminded me too much of human flesh, and he laughed.”
The Grand Tour
We set out on an epic journey. Within the first twenty-four hours, we missed our connecting flight, got accused by the Portuguese police of breaking and entering, and slept with one eye open in an apartment crawling with spiders; and still we were undeterred.
A Bath for Bill
In retrospect, I’d say that travelling was quite similar to using a new bath salt: exciting at first because it’s new and different but then you’ve been in too long and your fingers start to prune and get all nasty just like they do for any other bath you’ve ever taken – but I have to admit, Bill’s excitement to see Barcelona and Santorini, Cairo and Istanbul, Tokyo and Singapore, Auckland and Ushuaia and all those other places I’ve already been to not once but thrice, seems to have reignited an excitement in me that I rendered long gone. Although I desperately long to settle down and stay right where I am for once in my life, Bill gave me the gift of feeling young again – that wondrous excitement of youth – so I suppose the least I can do for my husband is pour in the salt and take a bath with him.
Urban Greetings
Every morning, the same bum would greet her by the stoop in front of her apartment building. His salutation was always the same, to the point that it functioned much like a “hello” now, thought it sounded a bit different: “You think I’m paranoid, don’t you!”
Will of a God
After you quit smoking, lost forty pounds through rigorous dieting and exercise, eradicated your debt, and even taught yourself to play the piano, it became very clear that you possess the will of a God.
But I’m sorry – you can’t will me to love you.
Awkward Position
He hated reading bad books. His veneration for the written word was such that it always felt like sacrilege not to finish; but on the other hand, life was too short, and there were too many good books to keep going on a bad one.
Night be my Eyes
She said unto the star-barren new-moon sky: “Night – be my eyes, so that I may see beyond the limits of that which sunlight reveals.” She screamed and hissed and writhed in the searing pain of the acid she splashed into her own eyes, but she welcomed the eternal honesty of an infinite darkness.
Credibility Gap
It was by accident, she showed up in his town; and he immediately asked, “What are you doing here?” She felt so sad, in the moment, because she knew that no matter what answer she gave, no matter how innocent it might really be, he would never believe her.
Arrogance
“Well you really made a first-class fool of yourself in there, Scott – you feel good about that?”
“You know what they say, babe – arrogance is bliss!”
Differences Aside
He liked to play Monopoly and she grew up playing Scrabble.
They knew they had different priorities, different dreams, and probably different futures, but for now they weren’t playing the game of Life – they were just having a little fun, savoring the taste of each other’s lips and the warmth of one another’s bodies here and now in the lust of the moment.
Big City, Small Town
He fell ill in Monaco after only one day of sightseeing. The good news was, he’d already seen all the sights there were to see.
Shifting Foundations
I’ve asked over and over again why we began this. I think some reasons maintained themselves, others fell by the wayside, and new ones arose.
Flags and Sails
Flashing clouds boiled over the sky, blocking the last of dusk’s sunlight from the sea. This was going to be a voyage to remember.
Guilty Eyes
As he squeezed her hand and looked deep into her eyes, she wondered if it was only her eyes he could see, or if he was able to look through them and into the dark lair where she kept her secrets hidden.
She blinked a couple times and looked away, an innocent smile on her face, deceptively stealing interest in the beauty of their surroundings, not yet ready for her eyes to plead guilty.
(Un)necessary Evil
Every now and then she still exchanged e-mails with the men she had met whilst traveling. She knew it was a waste of time and would have stopped completely, only it seemed a bit cold and rude.
The Ignored Dessert
“I’m not eating this jiggly junk,” Jen said pushing the large chilly bowl of quivering blue gelatin away from her.
“Good, cause I’m late for a hot date,” the blue gelatin said before hopping from the bowl.
As Life he Left
He slung a scarcely-packed sac over his left shoulder and began the trek that would lead him past even the very last buildings that lingered beyond the city limits – away from civilization, away from society, away from people and their happy little fabricated realities.
But a hint of doubt plagued the confidence in his steps: was it really them he was running away from?
Aristocratic Blur
He always felt strangely envious of people poorer than he was. He considered it a curse that for people with too many choices, there could be a kind of paralysis expressing itself in their aimless drifting, such that luxury overwhelms their abilities to express themselves distinctly in their own lives.
Birth Control Pills
“So you need to take it every day, preferably at the same time each day, and some of the possible risks include stroke, blood clots, high blood pressure, and heart attack.”
“Gee, I don’t know about some of those side effects Doc – I think I’d rather have a baby.”