Making Space (The Time Traveler's Passport)

by R.F. Kuang

“But more often than you realize, and despite all the mistakes they might make—the parents often know better.”

By now, a child has become a purely hypothetical prospect, a symbol neither of them believes in. Parenthood is like heaven, a concept they are making desultory gestures toward, but a dream neither of them really thinks might come true.

Jess thinks she is experiencing a pleasure that all parents must feel—the privilege of showing their children the world.

These are the unspoken rules of their neighborhood. Drink your vinegar, but pretend it’s champagne.

“Because it’s not fair,” Buddy bursts out. “Because you burned the world, and we suffered for it, and it’s not fair that you get Eden and we have to choke, just because you’re here now, and we are not. It’s not fair. But I am here now, and I am going to make space.”

She has become for him a safe harbor, a home that will not be swept away, or burned down, or swallowed into the ground. Isn’t that enough?