The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

by John Koenig

You think of all the places you’ll never have time to explore, some of which might feel like the home you never had, or like a living hell, or like walking around on another planet. You might one day be able to visit one or two or ten of these places, but you’ll never be able to shake the feeling that with every step you take, a thousand more lights will appear, and a thousand more, and a thousand more. It’s as if you’re standing in front of the departures screen in an airport, flickering over with so many exotic place names, each representing one more path you could explore or one more thing you’ll never get to see before you die—and all because, as the arrow on the map helpfully points out, you are here.