“There are so many subtle ways we women subconsciously protect ourselves throughout the day; protect ourselves from shadows, from unseen predators. From cautionary tales and urban legends. So subtle, in fact, that we hardly even realize we’re doing them.”
―
Stacy Willingham,
A Flicker in the Dark
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that, in the process, he does not become a monster. If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” ― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark
“The two of us together were childhood trauma wrapped in a bow and placed delicately on the doorsteps of every doctor in Louisiana. Everybody knew who we were; everybody knew what was wrong with us. Everybody knew, but nobody could fix it. So I decided to fix it myself.” ― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark
“When people get hurt physically, you can see it in the bruises and the scars, but when they’re hurt emotionally, mentally, it runs deeper than that. You can see every sleepless night in the reflection of their eyes; you can see every tear stained into their cheeks, every bout of anger etched into the creases in their foreheads. The thirst for blood cracking the skin on their lips.” ― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark
“I had come to think of him as a library book, entering my life on rented time. Something that I could enjoy for a few hours, curled up and comfortable, devouring as much of him as possible before our time was up. And because he wasn't mine, I couldn't scribble in the margins or write my name on the spine; I couldn't leave my mark on him in any discernable way.” ― Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things
“The truth is, people love violence—from a distance, that is. Anyone who disagrees is either in denial or hiding something.” ― Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things
“Maybe you need to stop retracing your footsteps. Maybe you need to try a new path.” ― Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things
“And for one single moment, like a flicker in the dark, it felt good.” ― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark
“And some of these people have secrets. All of them do, really. But some of them have the real ones, the messy ones. The deep, dark, shadowy ones that lurk just beneath the skin, traveling through their veins and spreading like a sickness. Dividing, multiplying, then dividing again. I wonder which ones they are: the ones with the kinds of secrets that touch every organ and render them rotten. The kinds of secrets that will eat them alive from the inside out.” ― Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things
“People tend to stash their dirtiest secrets in the most common of places.” ― Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things
“should have seen this coming. I’m a storyteller myself, after all, and a storyteller never goes into a story without actually knowing the story. Without having an idea of what it is you want to tell. You don’t go in blind, searching for answers. You have the answers—your answers, at least; the answers you want—and you go in searching for proof.” ― Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that, in the process, he does not become a monster. If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you. —Friedrich Nietzsche” ― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark
“Sometimes, the mind is just stronger than our attempts to override it.” ― Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things
“I learned fairly quickly that when people asked how I was doing, how I was holding up, they didn’t actually want an answer—not a real one, anyway—so I simply ignored that little needle prick that stuck in my jaw, the threat of impending tears, and plastered on a smile, giving them the answer I knew they expected: that everything was good, everything was fine. In fact, no. Everything was perfect.” ― Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things
“More often that not, it's just the thought of them that calms my nerves. I once told a claustrophobic patient to carry a single Xanax in her purse every time she boards a plane, its mere presence strong enough to elicit a mental reaction, a physical response. She probably wouldn't even need to take it, I told her; just knowing there was an escape within reach would be enough to ease the suffocating weight from her chest.” ― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark
“And in that moment, the moment of the crash, it made me realize that monsters don’t hide in the woods; they aren’t shadows in the trees or invisible things lurking in darkened corners. No, the real monsters move in plain sight.” ― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark
“An inner conflict between the person she is and the person she thinks everyone wants her to be.” ― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark
“it hit me like a truck: It’s because mothers—and, honestly, women in general—are conditioned from birth to feel guilty about something. We always think things are our fault. We always feel the need to apologize: For being too much or too little. Too loud or too quiet. Too driven or too content.” ― Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things
“It’s the realization of how many hidden bodies could be buried beneath my feet at any point in time, the world above them completely oblivious to their existence.” ― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that, in the process, he does not become a monster. If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” ― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark
“The two of us together were childhood trauma wrapped in a bow and placed delicately on the doorsteps of every doctor in Louisiana. Everybody knew who we were; everybody knew what was wrong with us. Everybody knew, but nobody could fix it. So I decided to fix it myself.” ― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark
“When people get hurt physically, you can see it in the bruises and the scars, but when they’re hurt emotionally, mentally, it runs deeper than that. You can see every sleepless night in the reflection of their eyes; you can see every tear stained into their cheeks, every bout of anger etched into the creases in their foreheads. The thirst for blood cracking the skin on their lips.” ― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark
“I had come to think of him as a library book, entering my life on rented time. Something that I could enjoy for a few hours, curled up and comfortable, devouring as much of him as possible before our time was up. And because he wasn't mine, I couldn't scribble in the margins or write my name on the spine; I couldn't leave my mark on him in any discernable way.” ― Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things
“The truth is, people love violence—from a distance, that is. Anyone who disagrees is either in denial or hiding something.” ― Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things
“Maybe you need to stop retracing your footsteps. Maybe you need to try a new path.” ― Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things
“And for one single moment, like a flicker in the dark, it felt good.” ― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark
“And some of these people have secrets. All of them do, really. But some of them have the real ones, the messy ones. The deep, dark, shadowy ones that lurk just beneath the skin, traveling through their veins and spreading like a sickness. Dividing, multiplying, then dividing again. I wonder which ones they are: the ones with the kinds of secrets that touch every organ and render them rotten. The kinds of secrets that will eat them alive from the inside out.” ― Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things
“People tend to stash their dirtiest secrets in the most common of places.” ― Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things
“should have seen this coming. I’m a storyteller myself, after all, and a storyteller never goes into a story without actually knowing the story. Without having an idea of what it is you want to tell. You don’t go in blind, searching for answers. You have the answers—your answers, at least; the answers you want—and you go in searching for proof.” ― Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that, in the process, he does not become a monster. If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you. —Friedrich Nietzsche” ― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark
“Sometimes, the mind is just stronger than our attempts to override it.” ― Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things
“I learned fairly quickly that when people asked how I was doing, how I was holding up, they didn’t actually want an answer—not a real one, anyway—so I simply ignored that little needle prick that stuck in my jaw, the threat of impending tears, and plastered on a smile, giving them the answer I knew they expected: that everything was good, everything was fine. In fact, no. Everything was perfect.” ― Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things
“More often that not, it's just the thought of them that calms my nerves. I once told a claustrophobic patient to carry a single Xanax in her purse every time she boards a plane, its mere presence strong enough to elicit a mental reaction, a physical response. She probably wouldn't even need to take it, I told her; just knowing there was an escape within reach would be enough to ease the suffocating weight from her chest.” ― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark
“And in that moment, the moment of the crash, it made me realize that monsters don’t hide in the woods; they aren’t shadows in the trees or invisible things lurking in darkened corners. No, the real monsters move in plain sight.” ― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark
“An inner conflict between the person she is and the person she thinks everyone wants her to be.” ― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark
“it hit me like a truck: It’s because mothers—and, honestly, women in general—are conditioned from birth to feel guilty about something. We always think things are our fault. We always feel the need to apologize: For being too much or too little. Too loud or too quiet. Too driven or too content.” ― Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things
“It’s the realization of how many hidden bodies could be buried beneath my feet at any point in time, the world above them completely oblivious to their existence.” ― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark
