We Have Always Lived in the Castle

by Shirley Jackson

it was not pride that took me into the village twice a week, or even stubbornness, but only the simple need for books and food.

When Jim Donell thought of something to say he said it as often and in as many ways as possible, perhaps because he had very few ideas and had to wring each one dry.

Their tongues will burn, I thought, as though they had eaten fire. Their throats will burn when the words come out and in their bellies they will feel a torment hotter than a thousand fires.

“It’s spring, you’re young, you’re lovely, you have a right to be happy. Come back into the world.”

Time was running shorter, tightening around our house, crushing me. I thought it might be time to smash the big mirror in the hall,

Slowly the pattern of our days grew, and shaped itself into a happy life.