dialogue prompts from in universes: a novel by emet north.
there are some things in the universe you can only find by looking away from them.
i read forcing a smile can induce happiness.
i'm too tired to pretend to be anything.
i want to be able to control everything, particularly time.
why does 'genius' always belong to men?
i love _____ like a part of my own body: not something i'd compose odes to, but difficult to imagine life without.
you're vibrant this morning.
i think we overlook the importance of non-human relationships.
who decides what is possible?
possibility is not objective. it is created.
better leave interpretation to the philosophers.
time is neither a river nor an arrow: it's a dimension.
all moments exist at once, and forever.
the truth is, i'm afraid of the empty house.
why did the giraffe get bad grades? because she had her head in the clouds.
it isn't enough to say a thing.
i'm afraid you're going to get sick of me.
i've forgotten the trick of being alone.
i couldn't sleep with the lights off for a year.
it was so lovely, i forgot to be afraid.
let's get into bed and share secrets.
i'm sorry i didn't defend you.
it's a cruelty, how the body can endure.
one of the perks of dying is that everyone has to do what you want.
i can believe it, but i don't want to.
who would have known that the end of the world would feel so ridiculous?
is being forgotten the same as being forgiven?
do you want comforting, or true?
remember how we used to sneak into double features?
you want so badly to be responsible for everything.
let's just be here. only here.
familiarity, history: they don't mean someone knows you.
a person is a fragile thing to build a life around.
no one who has true friends knows true solitude.
you need a name, too. what's your favorite animal?
i love you. you know that, right?
listen to your body. if it hurts, rest.
you know what i'd wish for my younger self? less perseverance.
there's no fighting the ocean. no point in trying.
what did you tell your family about me?
do you think ophelia meant to kill herself, when she walked into the water?
superstition is a testament to how badly we want to be in control.
can you at least tell me what i did?
that's the most you've said to me in weeks.
can you just stop trying to be the victim, for once?
have you been carrying around a list of resentments this entire time?
are you upset because i'm changing, or because you can't?
every mother fractures at the birth of a daughter.
will you read me another chapter?
if we had a kid, it wouldn't be the way it was for you.
for once, i don't want to think.
uncertainty can be a place of possibility.
will you sleep with me again?
i'm not scared. i'm furious.
i made it myself, so you have to pretend to like it.
i would rather talk about literally anything else.
how about a favorite memory?
a person cannot be an answer to a question. a person is a person.
you need to figure your shit out so you don't keep hurting people.
i've given up on distinguishing between science and magic. i'm letting it all be magic.
i've forgotten how to be a person around other people.
i don't hope to forget anymore. i hope to remember.
being a good person, it's not something you do alone.
americans want everything to be a math equation.
a story is just a story until it happens to someone you know. then it becomes a possibility.
a girl so young shouldn't have that kind of anger in her eyes.
you can't go around looking at people like you want to tear the hearts from their chests. it isn't proper.
time passes, whether you look at it or not.
