Words&Dirt

“It seemed only proper that the antics of her former self should not be connected with her present self––let alone with the real self that she expected would take over once she got out of this town and away from all the people who thought they knew her. It was the whole twist of consequence that dismayed her––it seemed fantastical, but dull. Also insulting, like some sort of joke or inept warning, trying to get its hooks into her. For where, on the list of things she planned to achieve in life, was there any mention of her being responsible for the existence on earth of a person named Omar?

Ignoring her mother, she wrote, ‘You must not ask, it is forbidden for us to know––’

She paused, chewing her pencil, then finished off with a chill of satisfaction, ‘––what fate has in store for me, or for you––’”

––Family Furnishings: Selected Stories, 1995-2014, by Alice Munro, pg. 166-7

“Let me say this: the idea of having it all has always been foreign to me. I grew up believing that if you worked incredibly hard and were incredibly lucky, you might get to have one dream in life come true. Going for everything was a dangerous, distracting fantasy. I believe I have been incredibly lucky.”

–– “The Most Important Thing,” by Sigrid Nunez, Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids, ed. Meghan Daum, pg. 117