Thief River Falls

by Brian Freeman

had been raining for hours, one of those endless fall rains that sucked all the color out of the world and turned your life into a black-and-white movie.

even in the wake of terrible grief, life would go on. La vie continue. Il doit.

Denis silenced him with a wave of his hand. He closed his eyes, needing to think clearly. His anger flooded back

and gave him a focus. “I don’t want excuses, Deputy Garrett. This is unacceptable. I don’t care what you have to do, but you need to find that boy. Am I clear? Find Harlan and bring him back.”

Children had the gift, the second sight, the sixth sense. Sometimes she wondered if most writers were really just children who’d never grown up.

He didn’t trust people who weren’t emotionally invested in the outcome of a problem.

Writing is a mirror. If someone doesn’t like what you write, maybe it’s because they don’t like what they see in the reflection.”

In the face of severe trauma, the brain could conjure entire worlds that didn’t exist as a way of blocking out reality. Hallucinations of people and places. Delusions that the mind refused to give up.

People always assume that priests are just fine with death, as if going to a better world means you don’t regret leaving the one you know. How silly.”

“Alouette, je te plumerai” while she did. When the water was boiling,

She wants to tell him that life is about leaving, but that love is about memories.