She knew what it was to wait for someone who would never come home. She knew that grief, like a scar, faded but never really went away.

I'm sorry,' he says simply. 'People make mistakes, Gemma. We take the wrong action for the right reasons, and the right action for the wrong reasons.

Scoring well on tests is the sort of happy thing that gets the school district the greenbacks they crave. Understanding and appreciating the material are secondary.

I know it. I know I shall make beastly mistakes, Father-" "The world does not forgive mistakes so quickly, my girl." He sounds bitter and sad. "If the world will not forgive me," I say softly, "I shall have to learn to forgive myself." He nods in understanding. "And how will you marry? Or do you intend to marry?" I think of Kartik, and tears threaten. "I shall meet someone one day, as Mother found you.

I know because I read...Your mind is not a cage. It's a garden. And it requires cultivating.

I wonder how many times each day she dies a little.

Men have feelings too, you know. You bruise the petals of my manflower.