Words in Deep Blue

by Cath Crowley

Henry doesn’t use exclamation marks. He doesn’t like the look of them

.

unless they fill a whole page, in which case they look like rain.

.

“The broken heart. You think you will die, but you just keep living, day after day after terrible day.”

.

Cloud Atlas is a set of stories from different times, and Rachel asks me if they’re interconnected. “How does it all fit together?” she asks. This is what Rachel does with fiction—she reads the last page first; she asks me for spoilers. She googles to find out the meaning. “Is it a novel or a set of short stories? Just tell me that much.”

.

I wonder if the future sends us hints to get us ready, so that the grief doesn’t kill us when it comes.

.

Sometimes, the end begins.

.