This Time Next Year

by Sophie Cousens

How could her parents spend so much of their lives fixing things and fail to see what was broken right in front of them?

“À chaque oiseau son nid est beau” – the bird loves his own nest.

‘All you can hope for is to do more good than harm in this life,

Greg was a jigsaw piece she’d been trying to make fit and the effort of forcing it felt like wearing a corset, pressuring her to conform to its shape.

‘Never give your heart away, Quinn, because you don’t get it back, you know,’

‘Be a good companion to yourself and you will never be lonely.’

‘Better to be hated for what you are, than loved for what you’re not.’

You had to choose a partner based on logic; someone with similar life experience who would share your point of view and your interests.

To be loved by the one you love – was there any greater feeling?

‘Don’t cry about something you wouldn’t cry about in five years’ time,’

‘I don’t think the scale of other people’s problems make your own any easier to live with.’

You need a man who’ll turn into the storm with you when it comes,

‘We’ve all got our demons to fight,

‘You need to be a “me” before you can be a “we”.’

She wanted to fuel her own fire.

‘Life is change – if nothing’s changing, you aren’t living.’