Absolution

by Alice McDermott

maybe our dystopian fantasies were not so far-fetched after all. What’s the line from Emily Dickinson? “While we were fearing it, it came.”

(Does it surprise you to know she rode the subway and a bus at that hour without fear—knew, in fact, each bus driver by name? An antique past, for certain. Something out of a fairy tale, indeed.)

“I know you girls want a heroic life. You want to show your courage. But self-sacrifice is never really selfless. It’s often quite selfish.”

As you say, no such thing as a life without regret. Maybe because we fortunates have far too many options.