Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

When truth burns hotter than loyalty, even friends become strangers The ballroom shimmered like a diamond under siege. Velvet drapes framed the high windows, gold-rimmed glasses clinked, and a faint hum of polite laughter tried to hide the tension that was crawling beneath every tailored suit and satin dress. It was supposed to be a…

When a failing bookstore becomes a sanctuary for lost stories and forgotten dreams The bell above the door of Linden Books gave its half-hearted jingle, a sound more nostalgic than inviting. Dust motes hung suspended in the air like ghosts, illuminated by the pale morning light filtering through the display window. The air carried that…

I. The Golden Frame For years, Sam told the same story about the summer of 1998.He’d close his eyes and see it like a movie — warm sunlight bleeding through the cottonwoods, a red Schwinn bike, the shimmer of the lake, and her — Emily Rivers — standing on the dock in that faded yellow…

The postman had been coming to Elm Street for twenty years, and he’d never seen the old house at number 47 with its front door open. The place had a kind of haunted quiet, even in daylight. People said the woman who lived there, Mrs. Whitmore, rarely came outside except to tend to her roses.…