Lia

“For a while she was quietly resigned to the prospect that nothing would change, but she did not know what the consequences would be, or what form they would take.”
― Colm Tóibín, Brooklyn

“I must confess, that my
heart is like a frozen lake,
only pretends to be firm,
to shroud its tearful ache.
So tread over this heart,
as often as you like,
but one of these days,
if it feels your warmth strike;
its cold, thin surface
will abruptly break asunder,
and then it won’t resist
from pulling you deep under.”
― Akash Mandal

“It was later, when she got home and lay in the bed after her evening meal, that the day she had just spent would seem like one of the longest of her life as she would find herself going through it scene by scene. Even tiny details stayed in her mind. When she deliberatively tried to think about something else, or leave her mind blank, events from the day would come quickly back. For each day, she thought, she needed a whole other day to contemplate what had happened and store it away, get it out of her system so that it did not keep her awake at night or fill her dreams of what had actually happened and other flashes that had nothing to do with anything familiar, but were full of rushes of colour or crowds or people, everything frenzied and fast.”
― Colm Tóibín, Brooklyn

“The idea that she would leave all of this - the rooms of the house once more familiar and warm and comforting - and go back to Brooklyn and not return for a long time again frightened her now. She knew as she sat on the edge of the bed and took her shoes off and then lay back with her arms behind her head that she had spent every day putting off all thought of her departure and what she would meet on her arrival.”
― Colm Tóibín, Brooklyn