The Secretary Parables

the long version

“<em>The Secretary Parables</em>. How does she do this to us? It’s like the Devil or God saying: ‘Now you are here. Pick a door!’ Well, why not try all the doors, one after another? What’s behind this one? Aha! It’s a skull. Next a white cake. Then poison, a child,a decorative pillow, suffocation. Each door wrenches and enraptures us. Put all together, it’s heaven and hell. Life on earth as it really, really is. Not a wish.” —Carolyn Chute