That, my dear, is what makes a character interesting, their secrets.

But happiness ... happiness grows at our own firesides," she said. "It is not to be picked in strangers' gardens." ~ The House at Riverton

I've heard it said that children born to stressful times never shake the air of woe . . . .

The certainty that she would find what it was she sought just slipped away, until one night she knew there was nothing, no one waiting for her. That no matter how far she walked, how carefully she searched, how much she wanted to find the person she was looking for, she was alone" - The Forgotten Garden

The happiest folk are those that are busy, for their minds are starved of time to seek out woe.

I sound contemptuous, but I am not. I am interested--intrigued even--by the way time erases real lives, leaving only vague imprints. Blood and spirit fade away so that only names and dates remain.

A true friend is a light in the dark. Viven