Priyadarshini~

Two trees by Joanna Klink

There are many Beths in the world, shy and quiet, sitting in corners till needed, and living for others so cheerfully that no one sees the sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping, and the sweet, sunshiny presence vanishes, leaving silence and shadow behind.

"And in the mind of a woman for whom no place is home, the thought of an end to all flight is unbearable."

It was as if his despair had given rise to a sense of invincibility; he felt that everything extraneous and soft had been burned off of him and he was left as an exposed steel core, indestructible and yet pliant, able to withstand anything.

"Was it simply the hysteria of a man who,aware deep down of his inaptitude for love, felt the self-deluding need to simulate it?"