And if I have to die trying, I will get out of here.

I was born into a world that was already dying; I belong to it.

Linden just wants to protect her, is what I want to say. She's all he has. I left him. I'm at arms reach, but I've left him.

A party in the orange grove. The pain on Linden's face is immediate. I am unwavering. He has cost me more pain than I will ever be able to repay.

On tiptoes the redhead wouldn't even reach my shoulders; she is clearly too young to be a bride. And the willowy girl is too forlorn. And I am too unwilling. Yet here we are.

Hope, that risky, illustrious thing. It should have gone extinct by now, but we keep it alive.

Forget who you are and what you think is there, and you'll discover things that don't exist to be known.