In the House in the Dark of the Woods

by Laird Hunt

There are fears in the airs and on the earth that can call up a fire in your heart whose ash will blacken all hope. This was not such a fear; it was just the little toe or finger of one.

We all go to our ruin. We are all the same in this.

women who beat their men were as rare as rubies in the wilderness and must be treasured.

“Writing is for work and God, Eliza.” “Writing is for many things, Goody.”

A tale is a funny thing, and even when it’s your own and you have a quill in your hand you must be careful where you touch it.

I am dreaming, I thought, and should go straight to my bed and hide under its pillow, for, like quills, dreams can mark you, dreams can stripe your back.

She ran like she was being sucked along a string of lightning,

as the night crept forward, a thought dressed as a memory came to me.

Truth has many different drawers and shelves.”

“I have tears of my own if I need them,” I said. And she said, “You can never have too many tears.”