Tennessee Williams, ‘The Vine’ from Selected Stories // Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care // Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People // Stephen Sondheim, ‘Maria’ from West Side Story // Naomi Shihab Nye // Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea // Shilpa Goel // Aidan Chambers, Nik: Now I Know
Being close to you made me uncomfortable. Not because of who you were but because of who I was. How could you love someone who was a stranger to their own skin. Who had more secrets than friends. Whose smile was smudged by cynicism.
Every time you looked me in my eyes, I turned away. Every time you reached for my hand, I moved it to my pocket. Every time you tried to get close, I found a reason not to trust you. A reason not to trust me, a reason not to trust my own judgement .
There was a part of me that told myself I was wrong, wrong in thinking I could not be loved. While the other part of me insisted I was right, right in thinking love was not possible for me.
This war inside me never ceased. You became collateral damage. My heart became a casualty. And our love became a martyr.
মানুষেরও মাঝে মাঝে কচ্ছপের মতো অবস্থা হয়। মানুষ উল্টে যায়। ঠিক হবার জন্য ছটফট করতে থাকে, ঠিক হতে পারে না। বাইরের সাহায্য ছাড়া ঠিক হওয়া তখন সম্ভব না।
~হুমায়ূন আহমেদ
📖 অপেক্ষা।
Translates to: Humans are also sometimes like turtles. They try to flip out. Trying to get it right but they can't get it right. It is not possible to fix without outside help.