Max looked at her. “Then I’d like to try.”
Liz smiled.
“Want to stay and watch the sun set?” Max asked.
“Don’t you think that’s kinda cheesy? A sunset?”
“It is cheesy. It’s also beautiful.”
“Then I’d love to.”
Liz took Max’s hand in hers and together they watched the sun slowly disappear behind the horizon.
About the Author
Brian J. Jarrett is a computer programmer by day and a horror/thriller writer by night. He grew up in West Virginia and now resides in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife and children.
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Also by Brian J. Jarrett
NOVELS & NOVELLAS
Into the Badlands (Badlands Trilogy #1)
Beyond the Badlands (Badlands Trilogy #2)
Out of the Badlands (Badlands Trilogy #3)
The Desolate
The Crossover Gene
It Came From the Mountain
The Saint, the Sinner and the Coward
Muster Drill
Yesterday In Black
Familiar Lies
COLLECTIONS & SHORT STORIES
Walking At Night
Wishes and Desires
Dine In
Cycle
Afterword
Do we really ever know another person? I mean, truly know them?
I tend to think people are like diamonds. We start out rough and unpolished, an amorphous rock of potential. The proverbial diamond in the rough. Then we’re cut and shaped into multi-faceted jewels that are capable of reflecting light in different ways…depending on the angle.
Look at a diamond in the light the same way every time and you only see a facet or two, and they’re always the same. But turn it and you see something different. The diamond isn’t new; you’re just seeing new facets because the angle is different. In this sense, we show only certain facets of ourselves to specific people. Our spouses see a facet, our employers another; our parents and our children yet another. We’re different things to different people; it’s almost as if we suffer from multiple personality disorder.
Are we being duplicitous by hiding certain parts of our personalties when dealing with a particular person? Are we being dishonest by choosing which facets to show and which to hide?
I don’t think so. In fact, I think it’s necessary in order to maintain social relationships. In that sense we’re all a little like Josh, showing his father the perfect son while hiding the more nefarious and shameful facets of his personality. Whether or not he did this out of respect to his father or out of fear of being caught, I don’t know. Maybe a little of both.
Point is, as people, I think we’re an amalgamation of every aspect of our personality; the sum of our parts. Problem is, it’s too much for any single person to handle all at once. The diamond in its entirety is the rock and all of its facets, but they can’t all be seen from a single angle. It’s just not possible. There’s a “dark side” out of sight, much like the moon, and that’s usually where we hide the worst parts of ourselves.
Maybe it’s just better to appreciate what we can see for what it appears to be and stop worrying about what we can’t see. Maybe we don’t want to see what’s lurking in the dark side.
Or maybe it’s better to know the truth. Honesty, right?
I’ll let you decide.
Brian J. Jarrett
May 21, 2016
St. Louis, MO
Acknowledgements
I’d like to thank you for your support. Without you, these stories make no sound.
If you enjoyed this book please consider leaving a review at the store where you purchased it. Reviews really help me and other potential readers. Thanks!
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