The Stranger

It’s like Santa Claus. When Thomas had first realized that Santa Claus wasn’t real, he didn’t think, “I’m growing up” or “That stuff is for babies” or any of that. His first thought was more basic: “My parents lied to me. My mom and dad looked me in the eye, and for years and years, they lied to me.”

Secrets, Chris believed, were cancers. Secrets festered. Secrets ate away at your innards, leaving behind nothing but a flimsy husk.

A secret revealed is a secret destroyed

some people can’t handle the truth.

Kuntz never understood cheating on your wife. Your wife was the woman you loved more than anything in the world, your only true companion, a part of you. You either love her with all your heart or you don’t—and if you don’t, it was time to move along, little doggie.

Everyone looks happy on Facebook,” Corinne said. “It’s like a compilation of your life’s greatest hits.” Her voice had an edge to it now. “It’s not reality

She was one of those people who made all those around her feel somehow better about themselves.
How, Johanna wondered, does one bullet take out a spirit like that?

“People are capable of doing all sorts of things in the name of love.”

Behind every secret site on the Internet, there is a human being monitoring every keystroke. Nothing is really secret or anonymous.”
Silence.

You never knew how someone would react until the pin in the grenade was pulled out, right?