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1 " I’m sorry. No.” Her mouth continued to move, too fast, pouring out a stream ofexplanation and apology.Jim didn’t need to understand all the words. “Sorry, sorry, sorry, but no,” they all said. "
― Bonnie Dee , After the End
2 " Hurling the box released some of his anger. It felt good so he swept his arm across the top of his dresser, knocking his pitiful possessions onto the floor, the ridiculous little carved animals, pathetic toiletries and useless old catalog he could never afford to orderfrom. These paltry items were the sum of his entire dismal life.He kicked the frame of his bed, hurting his foot and knocking the light cot awayfrom the wall. Heedless of Rasmussen hearing the noise, he cried out his rage and frustration, tore the covers off the bed, picked up the pillow and punched it. He hurled it across the room. Dragging the thin mattress from the metal mesh of the cot, he tossed iton the floor and looked around, but there was nothing else to tear apart since he owned so little. Laughing at the irony, he sank onto the mattress on the floor, his legs drawn to hischest, forehead bowed to his knees, and his hands cradling the back of his neck.Caught between harsh laughter and sobs, he breathed in hitching bursts. He had no future, definitely no girl, and soon, no home. What the hell was he going to do? "
3 " There were many things he had to tell her, but what he really needed to say was simple. “I’ve missed you so much and ache to see you again. Every moment of the day no matter what else I’m doing you’re in my thoughts. I want to … need to see you again.Please come to me.”Pressing pencil to paper, he wrote. “See me. 7. Jim.” He thought a moment and added “Livery Stable” just as it was printed on the sign above the door of the building.Folding the paper, he wrote “Miss Johnson” on the outside. "
4 " That’s what beliefs are for, to give comfort. It doesn’t mean I really know what the hell I’m talking about. "