The Changeling

by Victor LaValle

A thought, an idea, a shared dream; parenthood is a story two people start telling together.

Unsupervised reading is a blessing for a certain kind of child.

If our relationships are made of many small lies, they become something larger, a prison of falsehoods.

History isn’t a tale told once, it’s a series of revisions.

Posting online is like leaving your front door open and telling any creature of the night it can enter.”

“People call us witches,” Cal said quickly. She grabbed Apollo’s hand. “But maybe what they’re really saying is that we were women who did things that seemed impossible. You remember those old stories about mothers who could lift cars when their kids were trapped underneath? I think of it like that. When you have to save the one you love, you will become someone else, something else. You will transform. The only real magic is the things we’ll do for the ones we love.

What lengths will people stretch to believe they’re still good?