Page 103 - The Midnight Library

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she had known her brother was gay since he was a teenager, he hadn’t

officially come out until he was twenty-two. And he’d never had a happy or
long-term relationship. She felt guilt, that her life had the power to shape her
brother’s life in such meaningful ways.
‘Oh, you know Ewan. Ewan’s Ewan.’

Nora smiled back as if she knew who Ewan was and exactly what he was
like. ‘Yeah. He’s great. I’m so happy for you both.’
He laughed. ‘We’ve been married five years now. You’re talking as if me
and him have just got together.’

‘No, I’m just, you know, I sometimes think that you’re lucky. So in love.
And happy.’
‘He wants a dog.’ He smiled. ‘ at’s our current debate. I mean, I wouldn’t
mind a dog. But I’d want a rescue. And I wouldn’t want a bloody Maltipoo or

a Bichon. I’d want a wolf. You know, a proper dog.’
Nora thought of Voltaire. ‘Animals are good company . . .’
‘Yeah. You still want a dog?’
‘I do. Or a cat.’

‘Cats are too disobedient,’ he said, sounding like the brother she
remembered. ‘Dogs know their place.’
‘Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. e obedient must be
slaves.’

He looked perplexed. ‘Where did that come from? Is that a quote?’
‘Yeah. Henr y David oreau. You know, my fave philosopher.’
‘Since when were you into philosophy?’
Of course. In this life she’d never have done a Philosophy degree. While

her root self had been reading the works of oreau and Lao Tzu and Sartre
in a stinky student flat in Bristol, her current self had been standing on
Olympic podiums in Beijing. Weirdly, she felt just as sad for the version of
her who had never fallen in love with the simple beauty of oreau’s

Walden, or the stoical Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, as she had felt
sympathy for the version of her who never fulfilled her Olympic potential.
‘Oh, I don’t know . . . I just came across some of his stuff on the internet .’
‘Ah. Cool. Will check him out. You could drop some of that into your

speech.’
Nora felt herself go pale. ‘Um, I’m thinking of maybe doing somet hing a
little different today. I might, um, improvise a little.’