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61 " And there’s no holding back that lava flow. Like Mount Vesuvius, I blow. All the tears I’ve never cried, all the grief I never expressed, all the fury and the sorrow come pouring out until I’m sobbing like a very small girl, wailing while their hands stroke me and pet my head, while arms hold me solid and voices whisper, “Go ahead and cry; we’ve got you.” I’ve been so lonely for such a very long time. "
― Barbara O'Neal , When We Believed in Mermaids
62 " And there’s no holding back that lava flow. Like Mount Vesuvius, I blow. All the tears I’ve never cried, all the grief I never expressed, all the fury and the sorrow come pouring out until I’m sobbing like a very small girl, wailing while their hands stroke me and pet my head, while arms hold me solid and voices whisper, “Go ahead and cry; we’ve got you.” I’ve been so lonely for such a very long time. We’ve got you. "
63 " to, but his singing voice was deep and clear, so rich you could almost drink it out of the air like "
64 " The human body is a delicate, amazing creation. It takes almost nothing to completely destroy it, and yet it takes a lot. Most of us manage to stay on the planet, in our bodies, for seventy or eighty years, all of us amassing scars along the way, each one with a story. "
65 " regularly in high school, runs through my mind: “Doubt thou the stars are fire, Doubt that the sun doth move, Doubt truth to be a liar, But never doubt I love. "
66 " Your . . . ?” “My soul mate,” I finish, and a welter of tears swells in my eyes. I have to swallow hard to control them. “Like we’ve known each other always.” “In Spanish, we say alma gemela. Soul twin.” The words sting the raw space of my heart. "
67 " I’d love that.” Instead of rushing in with questions or comments, she waits for me to keep talking, a listening trick she learned at AA that would have made my childhood ten thousand times better. "
68 " Josie tumbled out of the truck looking like a creature from a Charles de Lint novel, an urban sprite or fairy walking amid the mortals. "
69 " I thought maybe there was somebody on the planet who knew what I knew, that a smiling face didn’t always mean well. "
70 " No.” She makes a face, looking upward. “This one feels a little more alive than I like. "
71 " There are seasons of darkness, yes? Loss and sadness all around.” He tightens his grip. “But if you are patient, the circle turns, and then there is happiness all around, everything good, everyone "
72 " I hold very still to let the cactus spines in my lungs settle. From experience, I know it will get worse before it gets better, that I can’t move, only breathe with the shallowest breaths possible, and it will still be like a hand brushing back and forth against the spines, creating waves of deep pain. "
73 " The fog eddied and moved, and between tufts I thought I saw Cinder, sitting with somebody. "
74 " as is often true of the children of alcoholics after so many years of neglect, I "
75 " I have never really been able to fully warm up, as is often true of the children of alcoholics after so many years of neglect, I "
76 " For a faint, foolish moment, I wonder if she is looking toward me too, across time, across the miles, somehow sensing that I am still alive. "
77 " As naturally as if we’ve been together a hundred years, Javier picks up my hand and laces his fingers through mine. And even though it’s a little sweaty and I’m not really the hand-holding type, I let him. "
78 " Chupa Chups lollipops "
79 " Your quest is powerful. You needn’t apologize for the space it takes.” He "
80 " Johanna Lindsey "