Daisy Darker

by Alice Feeney

A mother’s least favourite child always knows that’s what they are.

The lies we tell for love are the lightest shade of white.

Sometimes love and hate get tangled, and there is no way to unpick the knot of feelings we feel.

Some people drink to drown their sorrows; others drink so they can swim in them.

She stole his joy and he stole her sorrow, and they balanced each other’s emotional books that way for years.

‘There are much cleverer ways to end a person than killing them.’

I liked the taste of his name in my mouth and on my tongue, so much so I would whisper it to myself on the days he didn’t come to visit. It felt like snacking between meals.

Nobody can run away from their own shadows, but he’s always been determined to try.

‘Everyone you know is both good and bad, it’s part of being human.’

The reason why someone is lying is almost always more interesting than the lie itself.

The trouble with little white lies is that they sometimes grow up to become big dark ones.

Secrets are like unpaid debts: they pile up, and too much interest is best avoided.

We all have our own version of the truth, and it is rarely whole.

Albert Einstein once said that weak people revenge, strong people forgive, and intelligent people ignore.

‘When you love someone, you can’t just turn it off, there isn’t a switch. Even if you hate someone that you once loved, there is still a little bit of love there. Love is like the soil that hate needs in order to grow.

The mind often tries to delete files it can’t process. When you remember, it’s as though whatever caused that grief happens to you all over again. And I feel as though I am falling. But I never really forget, I just choose not to remember.