Trauma

“Another secret of the universe: sometimes pain was like a storm that came out of nowhere. The clearest summer could end in a downpour. Could end in lightning and thunder.”

— Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

“I can be anything I want / Without my legs or my hair / Without my genes or my blood / With no name and no type of story / Where do I live? Tell me, where do I exist?”

— IMMATERIAL, Sophie

“Then the day when the sadness comes. Then we ask, ‘Will the sadness which makes me cry, will the sadness that makes me cry my heart out, will it ever end?’ The answer, of course, is yes. One day, the sadness will end. One day, the sadness will end.”

— Log Lady Introductions, Twin Peaks

“I was— am— terrified of being owned. By a god or a man or a child or a place. By anyone or anything but myself.”

— Brenna Womer, from “Empire Blue,” Atypical Cells of Undetermined Significance

“I think too much. I think ahead. I think behind. I think sideways. I think it all. If it exists, I’ve fucking thought of it.”

— Winona Ryder