The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 3

by Beth Brower

I led the way up the four flights of stairs. Mr. Pierce was not directly beside me, nor directly behind me, rather at a diagonal, as if we were co-conspiring pieces on a chessboard. A strange sort of camaraderie.

“We cannot always predict the outcomes of our actions, Miss Lion, however well intended.” I stood. “What else is life but a string of outcomes beyond our control?” These words sounded far more jaded than I meant them to, but Mr. Pierce was not bothered. “What else, indeed, Miss Lion?”

“It’s messier than we ever imagined it to be as children,” he said. “What?” “Life.”