I am trapped within other people’s stories, tangled up in others’ tales. I do not know how to set my mind, my soul free. But I want to be free. Sometimes. Free to view a story objectively, to judge each tale’s course on its merits, not on the way it makes my heart jump and drop, flip and tumble within me. But how? I would not give up my connection to stories, to their ability to stir my soul. It is what makes stories great, magical, miraculous.

But sometimes, just sometimes, it can be too much and leave my soul reeling.