Role Models 〈Trusted — 2027〉

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“She was a large woman,” he said, “with a large head and large hands. She wore a brown corduroy suit and a brown felt hat, and she sat in a large armchair, and she talked. She talked about the war, the First World War, which she had lived through, and about the way the young men had come back from it, changed. She said they had lost their innocence, and that this loss was the only thing that mattered, the only thing worth writing about. She said that Hemingway had lost his innocence, but that he had found a way to write about it that was like a clean, white line on a blank page. She said that Fitzgerald had lost his innocence, but that he had found a way to write about it that was like a beautiful, sad party that went on too long. She said that she herself had never lost her innocence, because she had never had any to lose. She said that innocence was a luxury of the young, and that she had never been young.” Role Models

He looked at me, and his eyes were cold. “It wasn’t a story,” he said. “It was the truth.” “I’m sorry,” I said

“You didn’t offend me,” he said. “You just reminded me of something I’d rather forget.” She talked about the war, the First World