I have a special feeling about this story because it deals with the Samantha who appeared in the diner and ran from Mulder in panic. That's the Samantha who should have been honored as a real person, but CC dispensed with her quite dishonestly.
Imagine being drugged for your whole life, and having the courage to kick it just as the world ends. Imagine the double sense of panic, the yearning combined with the undeniable end of things. Samantha is a true sacrificial lamb, though to no merciful god.
And imagine living out the rituals of an affectionate marriage, bearing children, yet sensing that your mate had been more or less assigned to be your caregiver. Does Jason love Samantha? Yes, as two victimized human beings will love each other in intense circumstances; they are both human, their flesh is warm, they know each other better than any others. But they have been cheated of an honest human history. They never had romantic love, they never had a genuine argument, they never got a divorce. All they have are two sons that they now know will die.
I haven't had the time to contribute much to this conversation, and I apologize. But it's also true that I don't at present have the psychic energy to deal with the sadness.
The Unfathomable Distance of Stars
Imagine being drugged for your whole life, and having the courage to kick it just as the world ends. Imagine the double sense of panic, the yearning combined with the undeniable end of things. Samantha is a true sacrificial lamb, though to no merciful god.
And imagine living out the rituals of an affectionate marriage, bearing children, yet sensing that your mate had been more or less assigned to be your caregiver. Does Jason love Samantha? Yes, as two victimized human beings will love each other in intense circumstances; they are both human, their flesh is warm, they know each other better than any others. But they have been cheated of an honest human history. They never had romantic love, they never had a genuine argument, they never got a divorce. All they have are two sons that they now know will die.
I haven't had the time to contribute much to this conversation, and I apologize. But it's also true that I don't at present have the psychic energy to deal with the sadness.