Funny Story

by Emily Henry

“It’s a library, Daphne. If you can’t be a human here, where can you?”

the first moment I remember loving a story. Feeling like I was living it. Being, even as a child, bowled over by how something imaginary could become real, could wring every emotion from me or make me homesick for places I’d never been.

His winsome grin sends a thrill up my spine, a lit fuse shortening by the second, and I have no idea what happens when it burns to the end.

You can’t force a person to show up, but you can learn a lesson when they don’t. Trust people’s actions, not their words. Don’t love anyone who isn’t ready to love you back. Let go of the people who don’t hold on to you. Don’t wait on anyone who’s in no rush to get to you.

“I know it’s a cliché,” he says after a minute, “but being on the water always does feel like what I imagine church is for some people.” “I get that,” I say. “Out here, you’re small and there’s no one else around, but you’re not lonely. It’s like you’re connected to everyone and everything.”

Life isn’t a competition, and neither is love, but I’m still the loser.

“I was just so scared I couldn’t really do it on my own,” she goes on. “And so many decisions I made were based on the fear of what could go wrong, instead of my hopes for what might go right. Every time that fear got tripped, I picked you up and moved you away, rather than facing the possibility of discomfort. I never took any chances.”

“You were a realist,” I tell her. “Honey.” She laughs. “I’m a cynic. And a cynic is a romantic who’s too scared to hope.”

Life’s short enough without us talking ourselves out of hope and trying to dodge every bad feeling. Sometimes you have to push through the discomfort, instead of running.”

sometimes the unexpected is better than what you plan. The same universe that dispassionately takes things away can bring you things you weren’t imaginative enough to dream up.