Almond

by Sohn Won-Pyung

“amygdalae,”

alexithymia,

Books took me to places I could never go otherwise. They shared the confessions of people I’d never met and lives I’d never witnessed. The emotions I could never feel, and the events I hadn’t experienced could all be found in those volumes.

There is no such person who can’t be saved. There are only people who give up on trying to save others.

You eventually just move on with your life. I’m sure others would go back to their normal lives too, eating and sleeping and all, although it may take them longer than me. Humans are designed to move on and keep on living, after all.”

“What does love mean?” Mom asked mischievously. “To discover beauty.” After Granny wrote the top part of the character 愛, then the middle part, 心 (meaning “heart”), she said, “These three dots are us. This one’s mine, this one’s yours, this one’s his!” Mom’s eyes teared up but she turned and went back to the kitchen.

Maybe understanding a language is like understanding the expressions and emotions of other people.

“You know what? We assume all dinosaurs are huge, but there were some as small as a double bass, called Compsognathus.

Hypsilophodon were the ones as big as a bathtub, Microceratus were as big as a puppy, Micropachyce-phalosaurus was around nineteen inches tall, and Mussaurus were the size of a small teddy bear.

Just then, the word “Mom” came out of my mouth. I began to share with her all that had happened to me. Come to think of it, there were a lot of things I hadn’t told her. Of course there were, as this was my first time telling her anything. I slowly opened up to her. That Granny had passed away and I was left alone. That I was going to high school now. I told her that I met new friends like Gon and Dora. That winter, spring, and summer had passed and it was now fall already. That I’d tried to keep the bookstore going and that I had to close it down, but that I wouldn’t apologize for that.

People shut their eyes to a distant tragedy saying there’s nothing they could do, yet they didn’t stand up for one happening nearby either because they’re too terrified. Most people could feel but didn’t act. They said they sympathized, but easily forgot. The way I see it, that was not real. I didn’t want to live like that.

I’ve decided to confront it. Confront whatever life throws at me, as I always have. And however much I can feel, nothing more, nothing less.

love is what makes a person human, as well as what makes a monster.