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Hmmm, it would’ve been fine if it had been told the other way round. I’m not sure if you ever really made sense of it. The beatings continued until morale improved. I didn’t want to dampen the mood but I just couldn’t help myself. To play devil’s advocate.

Sitting there for three days, you’d think he’d have something better to do. The house was filled with light to its remotest interior. At the solstice the sun entered not only frontally but also, through a rear window, obliquely.

The last segment of the journey was the best: he’d never enjoyed a train trip so much, taking conscious pleasure in familiar irritations. His very fatigue gave sensations of pleasure, for he would doze, and wake over and over to the luxury of reassurance.

It differed from every other secret, not one that was bound with insecurity. Something that felt more free, more perpetual. As if everyone knew anyway, so who was I to call it a secret. At least I can live inside of it for just a bit longer.