Far, far away something made a single ghostly howl, like a banshee in the dark.

I wrapped my arms around me as tightly as I could, and stared up at the stars. Had I not been so cold and wanting to escape so badly, I could have stared at them forever: They were amazingly beautiful, so dense and bright. My eyes could get lost up there if I left them looking long enough. [...] They swallowed me up. They were like a hundred thousand tiny candles, sending out hope.

Your beautiful mouth was moving like a caterpillar. I reached out and tried to catch it.

It was like I existed in a kind of parallel universe, thinking thoughts and feelings that no one else understood.

I want you to see that the person I glimpsed running beside the camel, running to save my life, is the person you can choose to be.

Your eyes were too intense to stare into for long.

You won't be able to hurt me, or touch me.