Elizabeth

“We have not touched the stars,
nor are we forgiven, which brings us back
to the hero’s shoulders and the gentleness that comes,
not from the absence of violence, but despite
the abundance of it.”
― Richard Siken, Crush

“They wanted to fight, and to win. But how could they fight? Whom would they fight? What should they fight? They lived in a strange and shimmering world, the bedazzling universe of a market culture, in prisons of plenty, in the bewitching traps of comfort and happiness.”
― Georges Perec, Les Choses

“How could I ever leave him, having experienced that kind of love? I will never, ever, leave him.”
― Hiro Arikawa, The Travelling Cat Chronicles

“It snowed for several days in a row.
When it finally let up, I sidled over to the side of the warehouse where I had a clear view of the hospital’s front entrance.
It was the first sunny day in a while, yet Satoru didn’t appear on the terrace.
When the sun began to set, Noriko oulled up in the silver van. Her face looked pale, her hair dishevelled.
I pattered up to her, but she said simply, ‘Sorry, Nana. You’ll have to wait,’ and walked swiftly inside.
…….
Noriko elbowed her way through them to Sat’s side.
‘Satoru, it’s Nana!’
Satoru’s closed eyelids quivered. As if fighting against gravity, they slowly lifted.
Unable to move his head, his eyes searched from side to side.
Noriko clasped Satoru’s hand and placed it gently on top of Nana’s small head.
Satoru’s lips moved faintly. She thought she heard him say, ‘Thank you.’
The ECG screen flat-lined.
Nana nuzzled the top of his head up and down against Satoru’s lifeless hand.”
― Hiro Arikawa, The Travelling Cat Chronicles