The Lost Sisters

Be good, but not too good. Be pretty, but not too pretty. Be honest, but not too honest. Maybe no one got lucky. Maybe it was too hard.

Be bold, be bold, but not too bold.

I wonder what it was that made you dig in your heels. Maybe it was the sheer unfairness of the way the deck was always stacked against us.

What if all of our whispered words and kisses and embraces meant nothing to him?

I was afraid and I wanted to shout at you and shake you, but you would have just been puzzled. And I couldn’t make myself explain,

Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold on to.

If wishes were horses, my mortal father used to say, beggars would ride.

Perhaps it is just hiding in plain sight.

I suppose that’s one good thing about being obedient and faithful and good. People think you will never surprise them.

“Sometimes it’s easier to be mad at the people close to us,” Vivi said, “than to be mad at the people who deserve it.”