“In the sudden gush (explosion) of a vivid impulse Macabéa, half ferocious, half clumsy, planted a cracking kiss on Madame Carlota’s cheek. And she felt again that her life was already getting better, right then and there: because it was good to kiss. When she was little, since she didn’t have anyone to kiss, she’d kissed the wall. When she caressed someone else she was caressing herself.”
Note used in the 447th paragraph of The Hour of the Star. The handwriting is by Olga Borelli.