Literary Luminary

"Its a lot to think about, but I'm at the river's edge now. Pippa's pale face pushes up against the ice, her loose, dark curls spreading out underneath the surface. I use a rock to break through. Water rushes up through the cracks. To pull her out, I have to plunge my hand into that murky, forbidden river. Its warm as a bath. Inviting and calm. I'm tempted to submerge myself in that water, but not yet. I've got hold of Pippa's hand and I'm pulling with all my might, yanking her free of the wright of the water, till shes on the bank. She sputters and coughs, vomits river water onto the grass.
"Pippa? Pippa!" Shes so pale and cold. There are great dark circles beneath her eyes.
"Pip, I've come to take you back."
Those violent eyes open.
"Back." She turns the word over softly, glances longingly at the river, whose secrets I both want to know and want to keep far from me, for now. "What will happen to me?"
I have no more magic left for lies. "I don't know."
"Mrs. Bartleby Bumble, then?"
I say nothing. She strokes the side of my face with her cold, wet hand and I already know what shes thinking, not because its magic but because she is my friend and I love her.
"Please, Pip," I say, and stop because I'm starting to cry a little. "You have to come back. You just have to."
"Have to...my whole life has been that."
"It could change..."
She shakes her head. "I'm not a fighter. Not like you." In the winter-brittle grass, she finds a small handful of shriveled berries, no bigger than seeds. They rest in her palm like coins.
My throat aches. "But if you eat them..."
"What was it Miss Moore said? There are no safe choices. Only different ones." She takes a last look at the river, and her hand flies to her mouth. There's a moment when its so quiet that I can her the ragged edges of my breathing. And then color flows beneath her skin., the hair curling into ringlets, the cheeks a vibrant rose. She's radiant. All around me, the land is coming alive again in a ripple of blooms and golden leaves. On the horizon, a new pink sky is born. And the knight stands waiting, her glove in his hand. The warm breeze has pushed the boat to our shore.
This is a time for goodbyes. But I've had too many goodbyes of late, a lifetime of them to come, so I say nothing. She smiles. I return the smile. That's all that's needed. She steps into the boat and lets it carry her across the river. When she reaches the other side, the knight helps her out, into the sweet green grass. Beneath the silver arch of the garden's gate, Mother Elena's little girl, Carolina, watches too. But soon she realized this is not the one shes waiting for and she drifts out of sight, cradling her doll in her arms." page 394-396

• Do you think Pippa made a wise choice?