The Secrets We Kept

by Lara Prescott

Most of us were single, putting our career first, a choice we’d repeatedly have to tell our parents was not a political statement.

“The production of souls is more important than the production of tanks,”

The Soviets shot Sputnik II into space—this time carrying a dog named Laika.

I really hoped this was not true. Using a poor dog for experiment, letting her die a long, painful death is beyond evil. So much cruelty in this world.

Back then, we believed books could be weapons—that literature could change the course of history.

I also know that history doesn’t stand still.”

You must adopt a certain understanding of who someone is in order to judge how he might act in different circumstances.”

“My dream is to open a bookshop of my own someday.”

Or a mini library so more kids will have access to free books.

a beautiful woman needs to have something to fall back on when the beauty fades, or she’ll be left with nothing.

“the mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for,”

How one moment we were together, only to wake and feel the loss all over again.