Alex North

Courage is not the absence of fear, Pete knew. Courage requires fear.

She couldn’t afford to let her emotions out. Guilt. Fear. Anger. Once loose, any one of them would charge off, dragging the others along like dogs chained in a pack. And that was no good at all.

Faced with tragedy and horror, it was natural to search for explanations: reasons why the tragedy could not have been prevented, to help ease the pain; or ways in which the horror could have been avoided, serving only to stoke the guilt.

Whether they could forgive each other for what they had been in the light of what they had become.

I’m like you, you see?

You don’t have to hate me anymore.

Because that was what all children wanted and needed, wasn’t it? To be loved and cherished by their parents. His heart ached at the thought.

They wanted that more than anything.

leaving the silent world out there for the silent one within.

When you woke up from a nightmare, things were supposed to be okay.

maybe this was a nightmare after all, just not the kind you got to wake up from. The world was full of bad men. Full of bad dreams that didn’t always happen when you were asleep.

“I don’t know where you are, Jake. You’re where you are, and so that’s where I am too.”

“Because you won’t leave me?”

“I’ll never leave you. Ever.”