Oleander time, she said. Lovers who kill each other now will blame it on the wind.

She’s never where she is,' I said. 'She’s only inside her head.

I felt suddenly cruel, like I´d told dmall children there was no tooth fairy, that it was just their Mom sneaking into their room after they went to bed.

She wanted to wake up like Dorothy and see Michael's face peering over the side of the bed, laughing. WHY, YOU JUST HIT YOUR HEAD. But it was not a dream and there was no Kansas and he was never coming back.

Whenever she thought she could not feel more alone, the universe peeled back another layer of darkness.

A cliche is everything you've ever heard of.

I wandered through the stacks, running my hands along the spines of the books on the shelves, they reminded me of cultured or opinionated guests at a wonderful party, whispering to each other.