And there are really never endings, happy or otherwise.

You believe you could not live with the pain. Such pain is not lived with. It is only endured. I am sorry.

And then he tells her stories. Myths he learned from his instructor. Fantasies he created himself, inspired by bits and pieces of others read in archaic books with crackling spines.

The Burgess sisters arrived together. Tara and Lainie do a little bit of everything. Sometimes dancers, sometimes actresses. Once they were librarians, but that is a subject they will only discuss if heavily intoxicated.

...the thrill of being surrounded by something wondrous and fantastical, only magnified and focused directly at her. The feel of his skin against hers reverberates across her entire body, though his fingers remain entwined in hers.

It is likely to make us think we are not caged. We cannot feel the bars unless we push against them.

Unusual yet beautiful. Provocative while remaining elegant.