“
I think I’m starting to get used to you
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
“
The first time I saw you, I formed a very poor opinion of you. I thought you had no common sense and no character, and wouldn't make it to the marriage. That would forever remain the biggest mistake of my life.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (Les Disparus du Clairdelune (La Passe-Miroir, #2))
“
Reading had always been a passion, but since when were passions the only foundations of a life?
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
“
A little more than that, even.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (The Storm of Echoes (The Mirror Visitor Quartet #4))
“
Going through the mirrors requires confronting yourself. You need guts, you know, to look yourself straight in the eyes, to see yourself as you are, to dive into your own reflection. Those who hide their faces, those who lie to themselves, those who see themselves better than they are, they will never be able. So believe me, it doesn't run the sidewalks!
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
“
Me, too,” he said, after clearing his throat. “I like us not being conventional. A little more than that, even.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (The Storm of Echoes (The Mirror Visitor Quartet #4))
“
one never loves someone more than when one knows the least about them.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
“
She kissed his scars, first the one cutting through his eyebrow, then the one cutting into his cheek, and finally the one cutting across his temple. With each contact, Thorn's eyes widened. His muscles, conversely, tightened.
"Fifty-six." He cleared his throat to make his voice less hoarse. Ophelia had never seen him so intimidated, despite his efforts not to show it.
"Thats the number of my scars."
She closed and then reopened her eyes. She felt it again, even more violently, this urgent call from inside her. "Show them to me.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (La Mémoire de Babel (La Passe-Miroir, #3))
“
Home is a place in the mind. When it is empty, it frets. It is fretful with memory, faces and places and times gone by. Beloved images rise up in disobedience and make a mirror for emptiness. Then what resentful wonder, and what half-aimless seeking. It is a silly state of affairs. It is a silly creature that tries to get a smile from even the most familiar and loving shadow. Comical and hopeless, the long gaze back is always turned inward.
”
”
Maeve Brennan (The Visitor)
“
A museum, it’s like a memory,
”
”
Christelle Dabos (The Missing of Clairdelune (The Mirror Visitor, #2))
“
If, at any time, something doesn’t suit you . . . a gesture I make, a word I don’t say . . . you must tell me so. I don’t want to have to wonder why I can’t manage to make my wife happy.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (The Storm of Echoes (The Mirror Visitor Quartet #4))
“
I believe neither in luck nor in destiny,” he declared. “I trust only the science of probabilities. I have studied mathematical statistics, combinatorial analysis, mass function, and random variables, and they have never held any surprises for me. You don’t seem fully to grasp the destabilizing effect that someone like you can have on someone like me.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise / The Missing of Clairdelune / The Memory of Babel (Mirror Visitor, #1-3))
“
Since those two are involving me in their crimes, I take it personally.” “We.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (The Storm of Echoes (The Mirror Visitor Quartet #4))
“
Basta uno sguardo per amarsi. Del resto, non si ama mai così bene come quando ci si conosce male.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
“
It was seeing these worn-out men that really allowed Ophelia to take the measure of this world in which she found herself. There were those who danced at the ball, enclosed in their bubbles of illusion, and those who kept the whole machine going.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
“
As long as Ophelia had scruples, as long as she acted according to her conscience, as long as she could face up to her reflection every morning, she would belong to no one else but herself.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
“
fewer the people who know
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
“
To read an object requires forgetting oneself a little, to leave room for the past of someone else. Traveling through mirrors, that requires facing up to oneself. One has to have guts, y’know, to look oneself straight in the peepers, see oneself as one really is, plunge into one’s own reflection. Those who close their eyes, those who lie to themselves, those who see themselves as better than they are, they could never do it. So, believe me, it’s no run-of-the-mill thing.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
“
Things That Make One’s Heart Beat Faster
Sparrows feeding their young. To pass a place where babies are playing. To sleep in a room where some fine incense has been burnt. To notice that one’s elegant Chinese mirror has become a little cloudy. To see a gentleman stop his carriage before one’s gate and instruct his attendants to announce his arrival. To wash one’s hair, make one’s toilet, and put on scented robes; even if not a soul sees one, these preparations still produce an inner pleasure.
It is night and one is expecting a visitor. Suddenly one is startled by the sound of raindrops, which the wind blows against the shatters.
”
”
Sei Shōnagon (The Pillow Book)
“
Ophelia was scared, viscerally scared, that he might have grown fond of her. She felt incapable of loving him in return. She certainly didn’t know much on the subject of feelings, but for that alchemy to work, then a man and a woman need to enjoy a minimum amount of affinity?
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
“
Men rebuild what other men have destroyed.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (The Missing of Clairdelune (The Mirror Visitor, #2))
“
Indeed, one never loves someone more than when one knows the least about them.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
“
Was it just a book, after all? It had the texture neither or vellum nor of rag paper. Awful to admit, but it resembled human skin, drained of its blood
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
“
The elevation of the Citaceleste into the sky, the air currents for the dog sleighs, the distortions of space, the strong rooms, the concept of the sandglasses: there wasn’t a thing here that didn’t bear her trademark.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
“
More than any other city, [Paris] has entered the paintings and the novels of those under its sway, so that representation and reality reflect each other like a pair of facing mirrors, and walking Paris is often described as reading, as though the city itself were a huge anthology of tales. It exerts a magnetic attraction over its citizens and its visitors, for it has always been the capital of refugees and exiles as well as of France.
”
”
Rebecca Solnit (Wanderlust: A History of Walking)
“
Which brings me to one more thing about the Sheridan FCI [prison]. After you make it through the metal detector, you re stamped on the flesh above your right thumb with ink visible only in the black light of the prison checkpoints. Then you wait in a holding area like a farm animal before the next set of computer-locked double doors, and in this space, there are two things: a plaque celebrating the FCI Employee of the Month, and a full-length mirror with the message This is the image you will present today. Redressing, I always wondered whether this prop with its quasi motivational message was intended for us, the visitors of felons, or for would-be employees of the month. Perhaps both.
”
”
Jill Christman (Darkroom: A Family Exposure)
“
And so, by means both active and passive, he sought to repair the damage to his self-esteem. He tried first of all to find ways to make his nose look shorter. When there was no one around, he would hold up his mirror and, with feverish intensity, examine his reflection from every angle. Sometimes it took more than simply changing the position of his face to comfort him, and he would try one pose after another—resting his cheek on his hand or stroking his chin with his fingertips. Never once, though, was he satisfied that his nose looked any shorter. In fact, he sometimes felt that the harder he tried, the longer it looked. Then, heaving fresh sighs of despair, he would put the mirror away in its box and drag himself back to the scripture stand to resume chanting the Kannon Sutra.
The second way he dealt with his problem was to keep a vigilant eye out for other people’s noses. Many public events took place at the Ike-no-o temple—banquets to benefit the priests, lectures on the sutras, and so forth. Row upon row of monks’ cells filled the temple grounds, and each day the monks would heat up bath water for the temple’s many residents and lay visitors, all of whom the Naigu would study closely. He hoped to gain peace from discovering even one face with a nose like his. And so his eyes took in neither blue robes nor white; orange caps, skirts of gray: the priestly garb he knew so well hardly existed for him. The Naigu saw not people but noses. While a great hooked beak might come into his view now and then, never did he discover a nose like his own. And with each failure to find what he was looking for, the Naigu’s resentment would increase. It was entirely due to this feeling that often, while speaking to a person, he would unconsciously grasp the dangling end of his nose and blush like a youngster.
And finally, the Naigu would comb the Buddhist scriptures and other classic texts, searching for a character with a nose like his own in the hope that it would provide him some measure of comfort. Nowhere, however, was it written that the nose of either Mokuren or Sharihotsu was long. And Ryūju and Memyoō, of course, were Bodhisattvas with normal human noses. Listening to a Chinese story once, he heard that Liu Bei, the Shu Han emperor, had long ears. “Oh, if only it had been his nose,” he thought, “how much better I would feel!
”
”
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories)
“
Muhammad once was talking to a crowd
of chieftains, princes with great influence,
when a poor blind man interrupted him.
Muhammad frowned and said to the man,
"Let me attend to these visitors.
This is a rare chance,
whereas you are already my friend.
We'll have ample time."
Then somebody nearby said, "That blind man
may be worth a hundred kings. Remember the proverb, Human beings are mines."
World-power means nothing. Only the unsayable, jeweled inner life matters.
Muhammad replied, "Do not think that I'm concerned with being acknowledged by these authorities.
If a beetle moves toward rosewater, it proves
that the solution is diluted. Beetles
love dung, not rose essence.
If a coin is eager to be tested
by the touchstone, that coin
itself may be a touchstone.
A thief loves the night.
I am day. I reveal essences.
A calf thinks God is a cow.
A donkey's theology changes
when someone new pets it
and gives it what it wants.
I am not a cow, or thistles for camels
to browse on. People who insult me
are only polishing the mirror
”
”
Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi (The Essential Rumi)
“
The radiant sun draws visitors from the cold climes of Scandinavia, Britain, and Germany, and lively tavernas and discotheques entice vacationers from Asia and the Americas. People come from all over the world to marvel at the breathtaking historical depth and breadth that greets the visitor at every turn. This very mix of nationalities is just the latest of the many waves that have washed upon the Greek Isles for millennia. As they have since ancient, seafaring times, the hospitable inhabitants of the Greek Isles welcome these strangers who come for the beaches and the antiquities--and leave with the gift of the joy of living.
As sunset gives way to the blanket of night, the modest lights of a thousand tiny villages twinkle and flicker as if mirroring the star-studded sky. Against the darkness, the columns and stones of ancient temples and theaters glow with a secret whiteness. Sipping a sweet and aromatic coffee, as a mandolin player strums an ancient melody and waves lap up against fishing boats moored for the night, it is easy to understand why the ancients believed these magical islands to be the birthplace of the gods.
”
”
Laura Brooks (Greek Isles (Timeless Places))
“
Below us was a frozen lake. It was perfectly round, a great gleaming eye in which the moon and stars were mirrored. Lanterns glowing the same cold white as the aurora dangled from the lake's edge to a scattering of benches and merchant-stands, draped in bright awnings of opal and blue. Delicious smells floated on the wind---smoked fish; fire-roasted nuts and candies; spiced cakes. A winter fair.*
* Outside of Russia, almost all known species of courtly fae, and many common fae also, are fond of fairs and markets; indeed, such gatherings appear in stories as the interstitial spaces between their worlds and ours, and thus it is not particularly surprising that they feature in so many encounters with the Folk. The character of such markets, however, varies widely, from sinister to benign. The following features are universal: 1) Dancing, which the mortal visitor may be invited to partake in; 2) A variety of vendors selling foods and goods which the visitor is unable to recall afterwards. More often than not, the markets take place at night. Numerous scholars have attempted to document these gatherings; the most widely referenced accounts are by Baltasar Lenz, who successfully visited two fairs in Bavaria before his disappearance in 1899.
”
”
Heather Fawcett (Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde, #1))
“
Thoughtless is the man who buries his ideals, surrendering to the common fate. Can he seem other than impotent, wooden, ignominious?
The body is literally manufactured and sustained by mind. Through pressure of instincts from past lives, strengths or weaknesses percolate gradually into human consciousness. They express as habits, which in turn ossify into a desirable or an undesirable body. Outward frailty has mental origin.
As all things can be reflected in water, so the whole universe is mirrored in the lake of the cosmic mind.
The dual scales of maya ( delusion ) that balance every joy with a grief!
Look fear in the face and it will cease to trouble you.
Attachment is blinding; it lends an imaginary halo of attractiveness to the object of desire.
Be comfortable within your purse. Extravagance will buy you discomfort.
The vanished lives of all men are dark with many shames. Human conduct is ever unreliable until anchored in the Divine. everything in future will improve if you are making a spiritual effort now.
Imagination is the door through which disease as well as healing enters. Disbelieve in the reality of sickness even when you are ill; an unrecognized visitor will flee!
Continual intellectual study results in vanity and the false satisfaction of an undigested knowledge.
The ancient yogis discovered that the secret of cosmic consciousness is intimately linked with breath mastery. This is India's unique and deathless contribution to the world's treasury of knowledge.
Fixity of attention depends on slow breathing; quick or uneven breaths are an inevitable accompaniment of harmful emotional states: fear, lust, anger.
Imposters and hypocrites, there are indeed, but India respects all for the sake of the few who illumine the whole land with supernal blessings.
”
”
Yogananda Paramhansa (Autobiography of a Yogi)
“
Bloody battle and homecoming embrace, lightning-studded skies and Arcadian pastures, riddles, mirrors, smoke, illusion, the love of a woman, the wrath of the gods. Life is drama, a tragedy and comedy both, and we the actors. A trite observation, one decidedly inspired by some other man's muses. Yet for all the horrors and triumphs of the stage, I have found that the arts of Dionysus offer little to compare with the struggles and achievements, the lives and deaths of real men, or at least of men of thought and action, men who renounce the apathy and ignorance of those who pas through life as if they were mere temporary visitors, gawking occasionally but for the most part simply following the meaty desires of their bellies and loins.
”
”
Michael Curtis Ford (The Ten Thousand: A Novel of Ancient Greece)
“
A forza di vedere illusioni aveva perso le proprie, e andava bene così. Quando le illusioni spariscono rimane solo la verità. I suoi occhi si sarebbero rivolti meno verso l’interno e più sul mondo. Avevano ancora molto da vedere e da imparare.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
“
As sometimes happened following a visit to Kent, the city had a chill to it that went beyond a sense of the air outside. Though Maisie loved her flat in Pimlico, there was a warmth to her father's cottage, to being at Chelstone, that made her feel cocooned and safe. And she felt wanted. That flat was hers to do with as she wished, and to do exactly as she pleased within those walls, but sometimes she felt it still held within it the stark just-moved-in feeling that signaled the difference between a house and a home. Of course, it still was not fully furnished, and there were no ornaments displayed - a vase, perhaps, that a visitor might comment upon and the hostess would say, "Oh, that was a gift, let me tell you about it..." There were no stories attached to the flat - but how could there be, when she was always alone in her home. There were no family photographs, no small framed portraits on the mantelpiece over the fire in the sitting room as there were at her father's house. She thought the flat would be all the better for some photographs, not only to serve as reminders of those who were loved, or reflections of happy times spent in company, but to act as mirrors, where she might see the affection with which she was held by those dear to her. A mirror in which she could see her connections.
...
Most of the time, thought, she was not lonely, just on her own, an unmarried woman of independent means, even when the extent of the means - or lack thereof - sometimes gave her cause to remain awake at night. She knew the worries that came to the fore at night were the ones you had to pay attention to, for they blurred reasoned thought, sucked clarity from any consideration of one's situation, and could lead a mind around in circles, leaving one drained and ill-tempered. And if there was no one close with whom to discuss those concerns, they grew in importance in the imagination, whether were rooted in good sense or not.
...
She wondered if one could take leave of one's senses, even if one had no previous occasions of mental incapacity, simply by being isolated from others. Is that what pushed the man over the edge of all measured thought? Were his thoughts so distilled, without the calibrating effect of a normal life led among others, that he ceased to recognize the distinction between right and wrong, between good and evil, or between having a voice and losing it? And if that were so, might an ordinary woman living alone with her memories, with her work, with the walls of her flat drawing in upon her, be at some risk of not seeing the world as it is?
”
”
Jacqueline Winspear (Among the Mad (Maisie Dobbs, #6))
“
At what moment?” she asked him. “At what moment do we cease to be humans and become objects?” Blaise continued to make his way in silence, carrying the lamp at arm’s length to spread its light as far as possible. When he finally replied, it was in a different voice from usual, deeper, calmer, and without the slightest stutter: “Some humans are objects while they’re alive, Mademoiselle Eulalia.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (The Memory of Babel (The Mirror Visitor Quartet, #3))
“
Feeling groggy from being up all night,
”
”
Christelle Dabos (The Storm of Echoes (The Mirror Visitor Quartet #4))
Christelle Dabos (The Storm of Echoes (The Mirror Visitor Quartet #4))
Christelle Dabos (The Storm of Echoes (The Mirror Visitor Quartet #4))
“
Une pluie dense était tombée en même temps que le soir.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
“
Ses lèvres convulsives, ses cheveux pâles tirés sous sa toque, son nez dressé comme une épine, le pli gravé entre ses sourcils, chaque détail de sa physionomie dénotait un perpétuel mécontentement, une insatisfaction profondément enracinée en elle.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
“
On nie miał prawa się w niej zakochiwać.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
“
Make your vacation luxurious and memorable. Luxury Camping in Rishikesh is the greatest alternative for those who seek "Adventure with Luxury," that is, luxurious facilities and services in the camping site. Beach camps and jungle camps are not the same as luxury camps. These are located in a specific place that is around 1.5 kilometres from the river and jungle. These are built differently than the other camping areas. These can be found in the bush or along a river, but never on a river's bank. A luxurious camp is built on a good frame with a nylon basic structure and textiles (safari tents). Wildlife and adventure enthusiasts flock to Rishikesh for luxury camping.from all over the world. Rishikesh Luxury Camping not only gives sufficient possibilities for wildlife and nature lovers, but also allows visitors to participate in recreational activities. In the heart of the jungle, luxury camping in Rishikesh provides all of the comforts of home. Luxury camps include an attached bathroom, handheld shower, continuous running water, room service, a mirror in the tent, luxurious Swiss tents with carpeted floors, music, a toe chair, and one table inside the tent, and luxury Swiss tents with carpeted floors, bonfires, and one table inside the tent. Rishikesh offers luxury camping as well as rappelling, trekking, bird watching, rock climbing, and a variety of other activities. Wildlife excursions can also be enjoyed, making the journey even more enjoyable and bringing you closer to nature.
”
”
Anukriti Thakur
“
reading the text copy. “Where three protestors against the launch of the armed American space mission to investigate the landing of the Visitor starship on Mars set themselves on fire. The identities of the dead have not yet been determined, but nothing of the sort has been seen since the Vietnam War protests in the 1960s.” “Jesus,” Lee murmured. “The tumult and chaos outside the houses of power in the Capitol were mirrored by the violence within the halls of the House of Representatives.” “Warmongering terrorists from this administration are going to drag us into a war!” Morales recognized the congressman screaming the accusation. He was from California because of course he was, a slender dagger of a man dressed in a suit that cost more than Morales made in a month, though he styled himself as a champion of the poor. “Not just with the Russians, but with advanced aliens who could destroy this entire planet!” Spittle flecked from his mouth as he clutched the microphone against the grip of the sergeant-at-arms who tried to pull him away, and the Speaker of the House slammed her gavel. “You
”
”
Rick Partlow (World War Mars)
“
Was she attractive? How can one tell? From the gaze of a man?
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
“
Avevo predetto che non avreste superato l'inverno e mi avete smentito. Mi giudicate inadatto a offrirvi un giorno una vita decente. Permettete che anch'io superi le mie prove.
”
”
Christelle Dabos (A Winter's Promise (The Mirror Visitor, #1))
“
Good held a mirror to other people’s hearts, and the reflection was too often unflattering. People could hate you for that more than for almost anything else.
”
”
Anne Perry (An Anne Perry Christmas: A Christmas Journey / A Christmas Visitor (Christmas Stories, #1-2))
“
Fundamentals of Esperanto
The grammatical rules of this language can be learned in one
sitting.
Nouns have no gender & end in -o; the plural terminates in -oj
& the accusative, -on
Amiko, friend; amikoj, friends; amikon & amikojn, accusative
friend & friends.
Ma amiko is my friend.
A new book appears in Esperanto every week. Radio stations in
Europe, the United States, China, Russia & Brazil broadcast in
Esperanto, as does Vatican Radio. In 1959, UNESCO declared the
International Federation of Esperanto Speakers to be in accord with
its mission & granted this body consultative status. The youth
branch of the International Federation of Esperanto Speakers, UTA,
has offices in 80 different countries & organizes social events where
young people curious about the movement may dance to recordings
by Esperanto artists, enjoy complimentary soft drinks & take home
Esperanto versions of major literary works including the Old
Testament & A Midsummer Night’s Dream. William Shatner’s first
feature-length vehicle was a horror film shot entirely in Esperanto.
Esperanto is among the languages currently sailing into deep space
on board the Voyager spacecraft.
-
Esperanto is an artificial language
constructed in 1887 by L.
L. Zamenhof, a polish
oculist.
following a somewhat difficult period
in my life. It was twilight & snowing on the
railway platform just outside
Warsaw where I had missed
my connection. A man in a crumpled track suit
& dark glasses pushed a cart
piled high with ripped & weathered volumes—
sex manuals, detective stories, yellowing
musical scores & outdated physics textbooks,
old copies of Life, new smut,
an atlas translated,
a grammar, The Mirror, Soviet-bloc comics,
a guide to the rivers &
mountains, thesauri, inscrutable
musical scores & mimeographed physics books,
defective stories, obsolete sex manuals—
one of which caught my notice
(Dr. Esperanto
since I had time, I traded
my used Leaves of Grass for a copy.
I’m afraid I will never be lonely enough.
There’s a man from Quebec in my head,
a friend to the purple martins.
Purple martins are the Cadillac of swallows.
All purple martins are dying or dead.
Brainscans of grown purple martins suggest
these creatures feel the same levels of doubt
& bliss as an eight-year-old girl in captivity.
While driving home from the brewery
one night this man from Quebec heard a radio program
about purple martins & the next day he set out
to build them a house
in his own back yard. I’ve never built anything,
let alone a house,
not to mention a home
for somebody else.
Never put in aluminum floors to smooth over the waiting.
Never piped sugar water through colored tubes
to each empty nest lined with newspaper shredded
with strong, tired hands.
Never dismantled the entire affair
& put it back together again.
Still no swallows.
I never installed the big light that stays on through the night
to keep owls away. Never installed lesser lights,
never rested on Sunday
with a beer on the deck surveying
what I had done
& what yet remained to be done, listening to Styx
while the neighbor kids ran through my sprinklers.
I have never collapsed in abandon.
Never prayed.
But enough about the purple martins.
Every line of the work
is a first & a last line & this is the spring
of its action. Of course, there’s a journey
& inside that journey, an implicit voyage
through the underworld. There’s a bridge
made of boats; a carp stuffed with flowers;
a comic dispute among sweetmeat vendors;
a digression on shadows;
That’s how we finally learn
who the hero was all along. Weary & old,
he sits on a rock & watches his friends
fly by one by one out of the song,
then turns back to the journey they all began
long ago, keeping the river to his right.
”
”
Srikanth Reddy (Facts for Visitors)
“
But it wasn’t our differences that I wanted to focus on. So I parked in one of the visitors’ spots and pulled out the GPS I had taken to carrying in my backpack when I went running. I switched it on so I could pinpoint my coordinates, the longitude and latitude that placed me here and nowhere else in the world. The problem was, inside the car, the device couldn’t locate the satellites, so I unrolled the window, stuck my hand out and held the device to the sun. As soon as it calibrated, I grabbed my notebook from my backpack, ripped out a random page, and wrote my position on the paper. As I folded the sheet in half, I caught sight of my meager notes from the lecture about Fate Maps all those months ago.
Genetics might be our first map, imprinted within us from the moment the right sperm meets the right egg. But who knew that all those DNA particles are merely reference points in our own adventures, not dictating our fate but guiding our future? Take Jacob’s cleft lip. If his upper lip had been fused together the way it was supposed to be inside his mother’s belly, he’d probably be living in a village in China right now. Then there was me with my port-wine stain. I lifted my eyes to the rearview mirror, wondering what I would have been like had I never been born with it. My fingers traced the birthmark landlocked on my face, its boundary lines sharing the same shape as Bhutan, the country neighboring Tibetans call the Land of the Dragon. I liked that; the dragons Dad had always cautioned me about had lived on my face all this time. Here be dragons, indeed.
I leaned back in my seat now, closing my eyes, relishing the feel of the sun warming my face. No, I wouldn’t trade a single experience — not my dad or my birthmark — to be anyone but me, right here, right now.
At last, at 3:10, I open my door. I don’t know how I’ll find Jacob, only that I will. A familiar loping stride ambles out of the library. Not a Goth guy, not a prepster, just Jacob decked in a shirt as unabashedly orange as anything in Elisa’s Beijing boutique. This he wore buttoned to the neck and untucked over jeans, sleeves rolled up to reveal tanned arms. For the first time, I see his aggressively modern glasses, deathly black and rectangular. His hair is the one constant: it’s spiked as usual.
What swells inside me is a love so boundless, I am the sunrise and sunset. I am Liberty Bell in the Cascades. I am Beihai Lake. I am every beautiful, truly beautiful, thing I’ve ever seen, captured in my personal Geographia, the atlas of myself.
”
”
Justina Chen (North of Beautiful)