Marrow

by Tarryn Fisher

I believe that everyone needs something: a woman’s touch, companionship, money, forgiveness. And to acquire those things a person will accumulate as much sin as they need to.

Nothing is better than the discovery of another living, breathing human, who fights the same as you do, loves the same as you do, and understands you with such clarity that it feels erotic.

“You must not let hatred destroy you. You will lose your soul,” she says.

Children. Suffer. Yes, maybe more than adults. That’s where we become broken, in our youth. And then we wear it like a shroud for the rest of our lives.

“Shhhh,” he says. “You are worth loving. They just don’t have any love to give. Forgive them, Margo.”

Today we are here, and tomorrow we are gone, amounted to a handful of memories.

She looks directly at me then. “You have to be willing to be happy. Despite the mess of your life—just accept what’s happened, throw away your ideals, and create a new map of happiness to follow.”