The Last Romantics

by Tara Conklin

It didn’t matter how great a mother you tried to be; eventually every child walked off into the world alone.

It is not so much the persuasive force of an argument that prompts engagement, but a feeling that inspires it.

I think hope, even if premised on a falsehood, can be a thing of great power.”

All those years of friendship burned up and floated away, whoosh, like a pile of dry, dead leaves.