Ari smiled. The sun was shining, the weather was great, he was eating ice cream, and all his dreams were about to come true.

I am not a great prose stylist. I'm a storyteller. There are thousands of people who don't like what I do. Fortunately, there are millions who do.

It gets so tiring, this strong-picking-on-the-weak stuff. It was the story of my life -literally- and it seemed to be a big part of the outside world too. I was sick of it, sick of guys like these, stupid and bullying.

I love Nudge, Nudge is a great kid, but that motormouth of hers could have turned Mother Teresa into an ax murderer.

There's a saying I remember from my grandmother: One today is worth two tomorrows.

We probably looked like starving orphan children. Hey! We were starving orphan children.

Well, that's an evil smile.