Selected Cronicas

FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN (EXTRACT)

So this was happiness. To begin with she felt empty. Then her eyes became moist: this was happiness, but since I am mortal, this love for the world transcends me. Love for this mortal life was gently killing her little by little. And what does one do when one is happy? What do I make of happiness? What am I to make of this strange, penetrating tranquillity which is already beginning to cause me anguish like some great silence? To whom shall I give this happiness of mine which is beginning to frighten me and tear me apart? No, she did not want to be happy. For fear of entering some unknown territory. She preferred the humdrum life she knew. Afterwards she tried to laugh in order to mask her awesome and fatal choice. And pretending to be amused, she thought: To be happy? God offers nuts to those without teeth. But she was not amused. She was sad and thoughtful. She was returning to the death of everyday existence.