To Those Who Are Here, Those Who

The Falling Apart Of A Man's Life Should Make More Noise. It Should Startle Passesrby With Its Sturm And Drang. It Ought To Sound Like The Parthenon Crashing Down. Not This Ordinary, Everyday Kind Of Quiet...he Closed His Eyes...and Still It Was Quiet, This Falling Apart Of His Life, As Silent As The Last Beat Of An Old Man's Heart. A Quiet, Echoing Thud, And Then...nothing.

Popularity Means People Think They Know You.

I Always Thought It Was What I Wanted: To Be Loved And Admired. Now I Think Perhaps I'd Like To Be Known.

...this Fear Was Unbearable. It Unwrapped Who She Was, As Neatly As He'd Unwound Her Bandage, Leaving Too Much Pain And Ugliness Exposed. Nerve Endings; He'd Said They Were The Problem [causing Phantom Pain In The Amputated Limb]." Things That Cut Off, That Ended Abruptly Or Died--like Parents And Marriages--kept Hurting Forever.

Girls Like You Can't Understand," Julia Said, And It Was True. Ellie Had Been Popular. She Didn't Know That Some Hurts Were Like A Once-broken Bone. In The Right Weather, They Could Ache For A Lifetime.