SHUT UP.

dialogue prompts from state of paradise by laura van den berg.

the more times a story is shared, the more powerful it becomes.

it's like you've been in my head.

some people are like cosmic vacuums, always searching for other selves to consume.

you have freakishly pointy elbows.

once you start running, it can be hard to stop.

sometimes i can't believe a place like this exists.

i've lived many other lives since then.

this is a place with its own laws.

cats always look like they're casually dreaming of murder.

go where you need to be.

what's wrong with just staying where you're needed?

failures of foresight are the worst kind.

trees communicate with one another. they experience pain.

i thought i'd been stabbed by a ghost.

violence runs in our family.

i felt like i had a head full of bees, and i wanted to kill the hive.

i was sure you were never coming back.

i'm tired of discussing things that have already happened.

i feel like the last person left on earth.

people love to read about things that aren't possible.

time travel is trending.

you can't follow instructions to save your life.

i want to see what you can do.

you look real good. keep it up.

why were you so unhappy?

there isn't a clear answer for every question.

stop acting like a little bitch.

sometimes we are called back to the things we most want to flee.

aren't you freaking out?

sometimes i wonder what our memories are for.

we leave places, and we don't leave places.

i need a new system for processing reality.

stop skulking around.

where have you been? where did you come from?

the directives of the dead are very powerful.

how do you know that's what happened? how can you be sure?

i can't tell anyone else what really happened.

i'm pretty sure i've been having an existential meltdown for years.

i can't even deal with this bullshit right now.

there cannot be a utopia with people in it.

can you recommend a good paranormal investigator?

am i different than you remember?

some events are too big to even acknowledge.

i think i found a clue.

when we are denied a story, a light goes off.

is it hard for you to be here?

i learned how to fake everything.

i feel like a canoe in a tsunami.

action leads to more action.

we only know what we perceive, and we perceive so very little.

memory is a place, too.

cults are very seductive. they're portals to another world.

dialogue prompts from somadina by akwaeke emezi.

some people don't want to hear true things. you have to be careful which ear you speak it into.

you look like you're expecting trouble.

i have never loved you any less. never spent a morning without you on my mind.

will i ever sleep at night?

you don't think, and you don't see anything.

i just want to be close to you.

it's as if i know you already.

if i don't know myself, who is it that will know me?

you don't ever notice the things i don't say. everyone has secrets.

let's not worry too much about things we can't control.

i am here. i will always be here.

did you ever love me?

we are always family, no matter where we scatter to.

i'm not very popular right now, you know.

you belong to yourself first. just remember that.

people don't need to see everything.

people like us cannot be afraid of our gifts.

lie to me again. i dare you.

i wish i had been content with my boredom.

knowledge is worth everything.

i forget how to talk to people.

i hate seeing you in pain.

i don't think i can go back home.

i should have been there for you. i shouldn't have run.

you don't deserve what? care? touch? affection?

i'm not the one you left behind anymore.

i can't give up on you and let you hate yourself like this.

can i hold you, or will you bite my hand off?

we were always going to change, but the love doesn't change, you hear?

take it easy. you can handle this.

don't offer to pay me again.

you haven't lost me. not yet.

knowing what i want wouldn't help you stop me.

you don't look well. i think you need to sleep some more.

how are you managing?

you didn't lose me. you threw me away.

don't worry. you will always have a family.

your face is doing that thing where you're in pain but you're pushing it away.

sometimes doing nothing is the wicked thing.

i don't feel so strange with you.

sometimes i feel like i don't really exist.

if you won't fight for your own life, what will you fight for?

i don't like that tone. avoid it.

are you making a joke right now?

i always told you the truth.

you are not a victim here. which part of this is hard for you?

there's something very wrong with you.

the magic has to go somewhere.

do you want to go home?

looking away doesn't make things disappear.