Little Fires Everywhere

by Celeste Ng

her life, she had learned that passion, like fire, was a dangerous thing. It so easily went out of control. It scaled walls and jumped over trenches. Sparks leapt like fleas and spread as rapidly; a breeze could carry embers for miles.

Rules existed for a reason: if you followed them, you would succeed; if you didn’t, you might burn the world to the ground.

Parents, she thought, learned to survive touching their children less and less.