Isola

by Allegra Goodman

Your wretched body will die, decay, and be eaten by worms, leaving your poor soul alone to face the consequences.

As I have said, my daughter, no matter what virtue and goodness you see in yourself or others, know that in this world, not one in a thousand escapes without some deception or attack on her honor, no matter how good or perfect.

We were giddy. We were sober. We were dreaming. We were wide-awake.