She was reading when the memory came. Angela's Ashes and I know when Dad does the bad thing. I know when he drinks the dole money and Mam is desperate and has to beg.
The suddenness of the memory shocked her enough that she dropped the book, and it thudded to the floor as she watched the scene. She wasn't sure what it was, where it came from, and the way it took over her mind scared her. It's like she was this other person, this man? - No, this boy, she corrected.
She could feel his disappointment when the girl spoke, and she shook her head. Oft expectation fails, and most oft where most it promises; and oft it hits where hope is coldest; and despair most sits, she thought. He should have picked someone for something other than her looks.
The wry thought at the end, however, made her smile. It was familiar, and she wondered if the boy had ever learned his lesson - to look beneath the pretty surface.