Jolene’s Reviews > Exit Zero > Status Update

It became relationship architecture, like her insistence we eat outside and my tendency to say "You can never truly know." This phrase enabled me to forgive all manner of ills, usually those committed upon me: A man who lied about his height, friends who sided with the bully, a mother whose love got caught in her throat. I wanted to continue liking the person, which I guess means I wanted to continue liking the world

Jo is battered by the desire to protect this heavy, unwilling thing and understands that this battering is love.

Except for her father's orderly development, nothing in this town seems governed. Thin teenagers glare by the shop, curled like parentheses. Restless zoning restrictions permit a Kmart next to a real estate office next to an apartment complex. Jo cannot see the ocean but the ocean is everywhere: pooling in the swells between foxtails, frizzing the hair at her temples.

"I heard the sound of the last line before I wrote the story, which happens when I'm lucky." - Bertino about "Edna in Rain"

I knew how a balloon must feel, fretless and bouyed from within. I wanted to get to my house, where the woods relent and there's nothing but sky. Maybe the sky would be a certain shade of green or contain a cloud formation that might set me on a line of thinking that could turn out to be important. The idea placed a crackle of energy into my elbows and knees.

Some scientists believe if you place a virus into a petri dish of water then remove it, the water retains memory of the virus. This would mean that molecules can communicate with each other without being in physical contact. Other scientists contest this, consider the water memory scientists to be naive dreamers. Last night, I sat under the stars holding your ratty sweater against my cheek.

Someone says, let's have a beach day. Let's bring blankets and cold salads and swim. Let's comment on how the boats look in the distance and ask one another for advice. I'll bring what I'm good at, you bring what you're good at. Get that girl who's good at everything to come. Will you come? You don't see why not. I'll drive unless you want to. I wish we were already there. Let's never die.