She couldn’t hide from everyone for the rest of her life… Well she could. That was the direction things were going. But she knew from long-ago experience that when you were uncertain and if you were courageous enough to let her in a real friend could do a world of good.

She wondered again about her inclination to wish for things that made her so deeply unhappy.

Carmen didn't like change, and she certainly didn't like endings.

I sometimes think the stronger you feel about someone, the harder it is to picture their face when you are away from them.

When you feel someone else's pain and joy as powerfully as if it were your own, then you know you really loved them.

There were those emotions down there, and though she couldn't quite feel them, they were strong and she feared them. It was like watching a thunderhead from high up in a plane, and though you weren't under it, you knew how it would feel if you were. You knew you'd have to land eventually.

She hadn't chosen the brave life. She'd chosen the small, fearful one.