The Intangible

by C.J. Washington

therapy felt like punishment on top of tragedy.

“I believe that one true objective reality exists. A full understanding of that reality is beyond our reach, however, so we construct narratives, approximations of reality.

“Yes, my brother can be downright vicious for the sake of humor.”

I’ll buy her a coffee maker, and I’ll suppress my resentment, and we can continue as we have. That’s what family does, right?”

His mind, however, whenever he dropped his vigilance, returned to his childhood, a ruined landscape bereft of solace.

I don’t know why we love our parents even when we have every reason not to. Maybe the bonds formed during infancy stretch into adulthood.

Worry was like an encroaching virus, seeking and destroying joy.

You are your brain, and yet, so much of what it does happens beyond your awareness. It does its work unbeknownst to you and then passes you the fruits of its labor. That’s magic.

The absence of understanding allowed people to project magic upon phenomena. A spiritual experience could be explained by something otherworldly. Human intelligence could be described as sacred. To him, the revelations of science were magic. To others, science pulled back the curtain and revealed a lackluster world they didn’t wish to live in. CHAPTER 43 DERRICK 17 WEEKS AFTER

She’d done something terrible, but she hadn’t forfeited her right to human dignity.