The Library at Mount Char

by Scott Hawkins

Peter was looking at her with something between admiration and horror. “Is there a word that means ‘brave’ and ‘stupid’ at the same time?” “There is,” she said, “lots of them.”

She knew every word that had ever been spoken, but she could think of nothing to say that might ease his grief.

His word for ‘promise’ also means ‘a bone that cannot be cracked.’

Steve sighed, wishing for a cigarette. “The Buddha teaches respect for all life.” “Oh.” She considered this. “Are you a Buddhist?” “No. I’m an asshole. But I keep trying.”

But there’s also such a thing as a calculated risk. She wondered if Jennifer knew about those. Probably not. Gentle, frightened people didn’t think much about calculated risks.

“With this particular species of crazy, you stop trying to make things better. You start trying to maximize the bad. You pretend to like it. Eventually you start working to make everything as bad as possible. It’s an avoidance mechanism.” Jennifer looked Carolyn directly in the eyes. “It can’t actually work. That’s why they call it crazy.”

“That’s the risk in working to be a dangerous person,” she said. “There’s always the chance you’ll run into someone who’s better at it than you.”