The School of Embellishments

I have lied to you for years. Some subtle. Some whoppers. Sometimes you manage to recover the truth. But what does this game of loss and recovery accomplish? Light and shadow will always follow the rules, bending or lengthening as required. Candles will go on dying atop 2 a.m. tables around the world, the perpetual flickering, that uneven light, convincing couples of possibility. We are constantly cheated by the wavering. You said that, remember? Heat and light require care. But consider this: You want to believe. You want to believe that the white rabbit has vanished, but there's no magic — just flourish and imagination. She's always there, in the darkness, trembling below the hatstand, waiting for you to reach down and bring her up into the light.