Dark Matter

by Blake Crouch

“How do you feel about your place in the world, Jason?”

In the shadow of this moment, my life is achingly beautiful.

“Life’s short. Don’t be mad. It’s a waste of time.”

“It’s like we get so set in our ways, so entrenched in those grooves, we stop seeing our loved ones for who they are. But tonight, right now, I see you again,

“Am I happy?” she asks. “What do you mean?” “In our life that you say we share together…am I happy?” “I thought you didn’t want to talk about it.” “I couldn’t sleep last night. It was all I could think about.” “I think you’re happy.”

“What are you thinking?” I ask. She shakes her head. “That if you aren’t crazy or full of shit, then we just had the strangest conversation in human history.”

“I don’t know what’s happening to you, Jason, but I’m glad you found your way to me.”

I suppose we’re both just trying to come to terms with how horrifying infinity really is.

“He wasn’t a monster. If he did this to you, he would have rationalized it somehow. That’s how decent people justify bad behavior. In your world, are you a renowned physicist?”

“When you write something, you focus your full attention on it. It’s almost impossible to write one thing while thinking about another. The act of putting it on paper keeps your thoughts and intentions aligned.”

“I know I’m just hallucinating this, but you’re my angel. You came back to me. I was so afraid to die alone in that house.”

There’s something horribly lonely about a place that’s almost home.

It’s the simple fact that you walked into my life at the exact moment you did. You instead of someone else. In some ways, isn’t that even more incredible than the connection itself? That we found each other at all?”

As long as I’m with you, I know exactly who I am.”

“Every moment, every breath, contains a choice. But life is imperfect. We make the wrong choices. So we end up living in a state of perpetual regret, and is there anything worse?

one tiny thing were different, they wouldn’t be the people I love.

Here’s the thing. The box isn’t all that different from life. If you go in with fear, fear is what you’ll find.”

As long as my people are with me, I’m ready for anything.