"...this is who Pen had always been, a person who believed that people who loved each other were different from everyone else, from the world in general, exempt from the usual pressures of time and change, of growing older or of growing up. When it came to love, Will's friend Pen was that rare and dangerous thing: a true believer."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Of course, there are situations i which it's the wrong choice, " Pen went on, "for the same reason that anything is the wrong choice: you hurt people, you break promises. Although I suppose that not everyone would agree with that."
"Maybe not."
"But if you're not hurting anyone, then I think you have no choice but to, well, honor it."
"Honor? What do you mean honor?"
"Acknowledge it. Follow it. Chase it. Hold on to it. Whatever."
There was a silence on the other end of the line, during which Pen watched the ladybug fly, a black blur, from the lampshade to the curtain of the window next to the bed.
Will said, "All right, I give up."
"What?"
"I'm not getting it. Your pronoun reference."
"What are you talking about?"
"The 'it.' I need a real noun. The right choice, the thing you follow, hold on to, et cetera."
"Love," said Pen impatiently. "What else would I be talking about?"
Another silence.
Finally, Will said, "So you're saying, 'Love wins, automatically.'"
"No. Well, maybe. Except that makes it sound easy when it's not. Or not most of the time. It's stringent. Exacting," said Pen. "I think love is an imperative. It obligates you."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"And I'm not just talking about being in love. I mean any kind of love. You don't mess around. You don't walk away. You can't."
"Can't. Can't is hard-core."
"It's what we're here for," explained Pen. "It's what we're for."
-Falling Together
No comments:
Post a Comment