The Emperor of Gladness

by Ocean Vuong

The hardest thing in the world is to live only once.

We murder ourselves, he thought, by remembering.

Everybody’s so sorry about what they don’t know shit about.”

“I’m scared, Ma,” he whispered. “Of what? What are you talking about?” “Of what’s coming. Of the future—it just seems so big.” “That’s only because you’re young. Eventually, it gets smaller. But don’t be afraid of life, son. Life is good when we do good things for each other.”