the white sickness

"...she had the same smile even as a toddler...when her future was a closed book and the curiosity of opening it had not yet been born."

"...for the first time she asked herself if she had some good reason for wanting to go on living.  She could find no reply, replies do not always come when needed, and it often happens that the only possible reply is to wait for them."

                 - José Saramago, Blindness