The Sudden Appearance of Hope

by Claire North

“Every human grief you will ever experience has been experienced by humans living and humans yet to come. There is no readiness for it, nor no easing of the pain, but ma’am, for what it’s worth, I think you should know that all of humanity that was, is and will be is with you now, by your side.”

Alone, you can lose yourself, or you may find yourself, and most of the time you do both.

The music the toilet could perform from a tiny speaker above the cistern was of five sorts – traditional Japanese, girl-band, boy-band, the sound of birds chirruping, or Rod Stewart.

suddenly hostile. Strange how fast the switch may happen. In a society where good manners are king, the breakdown of such formalised structures rapidly reveals a need to not only save face, but to save face by chewing off the face of your adversary.

The past was just a present that had been, the future was a present yet to come, and only now remained,

There is nothing human ingenuity cannot make which human ingenuity cannot break.

Do I care that the only way to be free from the fear of surveillance is to be absolutely harmless? To conform to a sociological norm, and never say anything that is personal, or real, or half thought through, or challenging?

“These days, we offer solutions for everything,” she agreed. “Including things that don’t really need fixing.”