“she’s kept her love for him as alive as the summer they first met."
nicole krauss | the history of love
Enjoy the moving writing of Nicole Krauss brought to life by Kim, who married the boy she loves (a lifelong friend) five days ago.
"Maybe the first time you saw her you were ten. She was standing in the sun scratching her legs. Or tracing letters in the dirt with a stick. Her hair was being pulled. Or she was pulling someone's hair.
And a part of you was drawn to her, and a part of you resisted--wanting to ride off on your bicycle, kick a stone, remain uncomplicated.
In the same breath you felt the strength of a man, and a self-pity that made you feel small and hurt. Part of you thought: Please don't look at me. If you don't, I can still turn away. And part of you thought: Look at me.
Well, once upon a time there was a boy. He lived in a village that no longer exists, in a house that no longer exists, on the edge of a field that no longer exists,...
...where everything was discovered and everything was possible.
A stick could be a sword. A pebble could be a diamond. A tree a castle.
Once upon a time there was a boy who lived in a house across the field from a girl who no longer exists. They made up a thousand games.
She was Queen and he was King.
In the autumn light, her hair shone like a crown.
They collected the world in small handfuls.
Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was the question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.
”