One of Two

"Monica had always wanted to have an enemy. A life of rancor and vendetta was not what she had in mind exactly, but it did seem obvious that if no one disliked or disagreed with her vigorously, she must not stand for anything . . . if everybody approved of you, you must not cast a shadow, that was all . . . She even discussed this with her husband, Rudy, and they decided that it would be fine with them if they were not so universally considered decent and admirable. Not that they were planning to go out and start fights -- they had to trust that in a life properly lived, enemies, like wrinkles or laugh lines, would naturally occur."

-Rosellen Brown, the short story "One of Two," as reprinted in THE BEST OF THE PUSHCART PRIZE XII.