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.

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

I was surprised at her gentleness, her willingness to give in.

People love what they're used to, I guess." "No." You shook your head. "People should love what needs loving. That way they can save it.

But without humans, the wild would take over. It would only take a hundred years or so for nature to win again.

The sand stretched out gray and ghostlike and illuminated, a column of light leading forward. It was like something a dead person would see, a tunnel leading toward heaven.

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.