She had willed her heart to stay small and contained, but it wouldn’t be. Oh, well.

His distress and pleasure mixed and married, giving birth to several anxious children.

She perched on her windowsill, gazing at the lurid sun soaking into the Caldera, trying to appreciate it even though she couldn’t have it. Why did she always feel she had to do something in the face of beauty?

Wish for what you want, work for what you need. -Carmen's grandmother

She wanted him to see all of her and also none of her. She wanted him to be dazzled by the bits and blinded by the whole. She wanted him to see her whole and not in pieces. She had hopes that were hard to satisfy.

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

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.