The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding

by Lydia Kang

she felt more optimism than she had in a year. The certainty that things were about to change for the better. It was a lie she embraced, no matter how often she told it to herself.

Right now, he was one of many trying to help move mountains. One day, he wanted to be the person ordering the mountain to be moved.

I know what you’re thinking. A little girl like me can’t do a man’s work. But I can try. Don’t give up on me yet! I can be stronger than anyone believes me to be.

I know you always say to be wary of strangers, but if I needed help, I would be a stranger to someone else, and oughtn’t they to help me too?

Love and affection were not the same thing. One, she had plenty of. The other, she was starving for.

People who are afraid will do whatever it takes to protect themselves. And if this friend of yours is scared, then maybe she’s been hurt.”

I have seven nights left here. Let’s not waste it. Let’s pretend every hour is worth a year or more. Every second can be broken down into infinite fractions of time. Let’s live there for a while.”

There were moments in a person’s life when logic and thoughtful decisions were the rule. And there were other times when senses, not sensibility, reigned.

You win some, you lose some. Though the losing part felt rather rotten, now that he truly considered it.

She was pretty when she smiled, but it also reminded him of when a lioness yawns at the zoo and shows off its enormous canines in the process. Cute, but damned scary as hell too.

Deep down, his compass was true. But love blinded him, just like every fallible human with a soul that ever walked the earth.

We humans are such a unique species in our need to destroy each other. We are apt to create things of such beauty and goodness. And we are capable of monstrous hatred and violence. We have but one Earth, and one life; let us all endeavor to create more of the good while we’re here.