Never Always Sometimes

by Adi Alsaid

“It’s from a book. It says, ‘a little better than you found it.’” “What’s it mean?” “Well, it’s part of a longer quote, this really beautiful passage about how the best you can ever do is to leave the world a little better than you found it. It doesn’t matter how you do it. Invent a new toaster or reach out a helping hand; just, you know, leave it a little better than you found it.”

“Timbuktu by Paul Auster,” she said. “I know it’s weird to say or even think this, but that book has made me who I am. Not entirely, obviously. It didn’t help me at soccer, or make me so good at telling jokes with a straight face. But certain lines felt like they were thoughts I’d had my whole life that just hadn’t taken shape yet until I read them. ‘A little better than you found it’ is how I see everything now. Not just the world, but everything. People, too. I want people I know to be a little better off than when I found them. God, that sounds pretentious, doesn’t it?” “It sounds like kindness to me,” Dave said.

“Wow, I wasn’t even sure this was a date, but now that you’ve complimented my butt I think it might be.” She took his hand and lifted herself up.