Susan Beth Pfeffer - Life As We Knew It (2006)

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I guess I always felt even if the world came to an end, McDonald's would still be open.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
But I don't want to have to stop feeling. I really think I'd rather die than stop feeling.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
I'm 16 years old. Let me get my learner's permit first. then I'll worry about lifetime commitments

Susan Beth Pfeffer
When I'm in the water I feel as though nothing bad has happened. I think about the fish, how they don't know what's going on. Their world is unchanged. Actually it's probably better now to be a tuna or a sardine or a salmon. Less chance of ending up as somebody's lunch.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
We're all alive. We're all healthy. These are the good times.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
What's the point of God making us human if He doesn't want us to act like we're human?' 'To see if we can rise above our natures,'Megan said.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
When I came back, I found Mom sobbing at the kitchen table...Then I asked her what had happened. 'Nothing,'she said. 'I was thinking about that man...I started thinking about...if he and his wife and their other child are okay, and I don't know. It just got to me.' 'I know,' I said, because I did know. Sometimes it's safer to cry about people you don't know than to think about people you really love.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
Lisa's baby was due about now. I've decided she had it and it was a girl. I've named her Rachel.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
Matt looked up kids from his high school class. Only three were listed as dead, but a bunch were listed as missing/presumed dead. As a test, he looked us up, but none of our names were on any of the lists. And that's how we know we're alive this Memorial Day.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
It wouldn't be New Year's without a resolution. I've resolved to take a moment every day for the rest of my life to appreciate what I have.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
About 10 minutes ago, we all woke up because of this strange roaring sound. We all raced toward the sound, which turned out to be the washing machine going back on. Who knew the rinse cycle could be so scary?

Susan Beth Pfeffer
I never really thought about how when I look at the moon it's the same moon as Shakespeare and Marie Antoinette and George Washington and Cleopatra looked at.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
What about desserts?" I asked. "If the world comes to an end, I'm going to want cookies." "We're all going to want cookies if the world comes to an end," Mrs. Nesbitt agreed. "And chips and pretzels. If the world is coming to an end, why should I care about my blood pressure?" "Okay, we'll die fat," Mom said.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
I'm the one not caring. I'm the one pretending the Earth isn't shattering all around me because I don't want it to be. I don't want to know there was an earthquake in Missouri. I don't want to know the Midwest can die, also, that what's going on isn't just tides and tsunamis. I don't want to have any more to be afraid of. I didn't start this diary for it to be a record of death.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
I feel myself shriveling along with my world, getting smaller and harder. I'm turning into a rock, and in some ways that's good, because rocks last forever. But if this is how I'm going to last forever, then I don't want to.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
Just in case the world ends tomorrow," she said. "We might as well enjoy today.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
Mom, is the world coming to an end?" Jonny asked, picking up the plate of cookies and ramming one into his mouth. "No, it isn'T," Mom said, folding her lawn chair and carrying it to the front of the house. "And yes, you do have to go to school tomorrow.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
But today when I am 17 and warm and well fed, I'm keeping this journal for myself so I can always remember life as we knew it, life as we know it, for a time when I am no longer in the sunroom.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
I hate the moon. I hate tides and earthquakes and volcanoes. I hate a world where things that have absolutely nothing to do with me can destroy my life and the lives of people I love.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
Maybe I'm wrong," Mom said. "Maybe the world really is coming to an end." "Should I try Fox News?" I asked. Mom shuddered. "We're not that desperate," she said.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
I wonder if I'll ever have to decide which is worse, life as we're living or no life at all.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
Here's the funny thing about the world coming to an end. Once it gets going, it doesn't seem to stop.

Susan Beth Pfeffer
This morning the electricity came on for a few minutes, and when it did, Jonny said, "Hey, it's a black-on." This is what passes for humor around here.

Susan Beth Pfeffer