A Density of Souls

I think you write because it’s easier than talking,

You never hate someone that much unless you’re afraid of him.

wafting through the open door of a brightly lit office down the musty, darkened corridor of the backstage.

The light in the darkness, as Stephen explained it, did not chase away the shadows of fear and regret: It merely illuminated the fears worth fighting. It lit the paths dictated by fate and choice, rather than casting a celestial glow on the way to a better and more perfect world. Although

Why do these people like pain so much?

She did not feel she could be a writer because she lacked the courage to let anyone read her words. When

Come on . . .” Stephen called back over his shoulder.

Maybe Jeff Haugh wouldn’t speak to him in school that day. But it wouldn’t matter. Stephen stared out over his ice-shrouded neighborhood and realized that what had happened the previous night was inviolable; it could not be taken from him the way his childhood had been. Jeff Haugh’s arms and lips had held him, and no words or actions could undo that. Jeff Haugh. Stephen rolled the name back and forth in his head. He found himself unable to think of him as just Jeff. His full name seemed more appropriate. With Jeff Haugh in his history, Stephen would always be part of something beyond his window. He