You Are Here

by David Nicholls

Real life was rarely a driftwood fire or a drunken game of Twister, and it was part of growing up to let go of those fantasies of perpetual skinny-dipping and deep talks.

The point is to remember this process doesn’t stop just because humans are here. It’s happening now and it’ll happen when the last human is long gone. Mighty forces beneath your feet. Nothing permanent, everything changing.

people found it easier to talk frankly when walking, something about the forward gaze and the rhythm.

Private, intimate, a book was something she could pull around and over herself, like a quilt.