Evil and the Mask Read online

She took off her denim jacket.

  “True, I’ve never really told you, have I?”

  The scenery below us changed rapidly as the aircraft gathered speed and left the runway.

  “This is the first time I’ve ever told anyone. I’m not sure where to begin.”

  We continued our ascent. As I watched the city recede into the distance, I realized that it was filled with millions of lives. Soon the plane passed through a bank of clouds, as though gathering together a bundle of long threads. Above the clouds the sun was blinding.

  “Okay, well, when I was eleven my father called me to his study, and this is what he said. ‘Now I’m going to tell you …’ ”

  The sunlight streaming in through the windows sparkled in her eyes, and the reflection seemed to shine on me as well. I told myself I had to remember those thin, strong beams forever.