But he was no longer afraid. Numbers aren’t the important thing, he told himself. The countdown has no meaning. Now he knew: what matters is deciding in your heart to accept another person completely. When you do that, it is always the first time and the last.

The Kidney-shaped Stone that Moves Every Day
by Haruki Murakami
Translated, from the Japanese, by Jay Rubin

• Read the full story on The New Yorker.