And oh, god, how could so much regret and so much sweetness and so much sadness all be present in that single moment. I was already dead and missing my unlived life. I was already dead and Tobias was mourning. I tried to smile. For him.

Everything ends eventually. I guess that's what makes summer so intense, this feeling that it lasts for only a a short while and then it's back to reality.

I like colorful tales with black beginnings and stormy middles and cloudless blue-sky endings. But any story will do.

Yes," he said. "You were strong. You were brave. You were good. You mattered.

With enough time, you can get used to almost anything.

Earth is the crossroads of every possible alien. We're the McDonald's next to the highway of the galaxy.

Humans. Violent but peace-loving. Passionate but cerebral. Humane but cruel. Impulsive but calculating. Generous but selfish. And yet, somehow I knew that they represented the best hope of the galaxy.