The Measure

by Nikki Erlick

“That’s life!” Nina shouted. “Before the strings arrived, that was the chance anyone took when they got married, or when they had kids. There was no guarantee. But you still vowed in sickness and in health, not knowing which one you’d get, and you still promised till death do us part, with no idea when that parting would occur.” Nina paused. “But now that we have the strings, suddenly the risk that every couple used to accept has become so unimaginable?”

I arise in the morning torn between a desire to save the world and a desire to savor the world. That makes it hard to plan the day.