A Ladder to the Sky

by John Boyne

“Everyone has secrets. There’s something in all our pasts that we wouldn’t want to be revealed. Look around the foyer the next time you’re there and ask yourself, What would each of these people prefer that I didn’t know about them? And that’s where you’ll find your story. A hotel can be a fascinating place. Hundreds of people gathered together in one building, yet each one desperate to maintain their privacy.”

“What was it Woodrow Wilson said?” asked Gore. “That loyalty means nothing unless it has at its heart the absolute principle of self-sacrifice? Something along those lines?”

When you shone your light on me, it was still impossible not to feel the wonderful glow.