Status Updates From Always

Masterful. Such an incredible story. Pulls on the heart strings and always brings a tear to my eye.

“‘[…] I wish when you were ten, you’d had someone like you.’
‘I did,’ says Felix quietly. ‘Several of them. And for me they made sure it did work out.’”

“‘Thank you,’ he says. ‘I hope one day I can…’ Ruby puts her finger over his lips. ‘You already repaid me,’ she sad to him quietly. ‘Seventy-three years ago.’”

“[…] so if my trust runs out, maybe my gratefulness will help me hang on.”

“I don’t bother saying that’s several weeks too long when a war’s already started. Feliz knows it is.”

“Always expect the unexpected,”

“I’m still alive, Wassim, because a long time ago people gave me good protection, even if it cost them everything.”

“Gently, together, we cover him with earth.”

“This boy who has so much to give, and who I suspect has had so much taken from him.”

“Then we stand side by side and say our goodbyes to him. ‘Thank you, old friend,’ I whisper.”

“[…] but partisan training stays with you even when you’re old and dopey.”

“Be on guard. They know where to find you, the people who hate. They’ve done library research too.”

“Always unmistakable, death. Even when you’re in shock, you know it as soon as you see it.”

“I’ve had a previous locket for seventy-seven years, and I’ve never noticed this before. Probably because all I’ve seen is sad memories. Zelda looking at me with a loving frown, saying ‘Don’t you know anything?’”

“Always be careful when you dig up a grave. There’s a chance you could dig up things inside yourself as well.”

“‘It’s just information,’ I say gently. ‘It’s what we do with it that counts.’”

“No longer being able to use the wonderful things I was given as a child. The love and inspiration and opportunities. And yet still having to live with the dark shadows of everything that was taken away.”

“She gives me a sympathetic look and we share a last hug. A long one. Then she’s gone.”

“Find someone nice to watch your back.”

“Always in my heart.”

“”’But please, Wassim, learn when to keep your mouth shut. For your own sake.’”

“‘[…] remind yourself what a cruel and unlucky place the world is.”

“Always try not to worry your parents.”

“Your life won’t be easy. And I won’t be there to help you.”

“They can be more dangerous than they look.”