She gave 'The Dream Carrier' to Max as if words alone could nourish him.

in the trees this afternoon, he was a giver of bread and teddy bears.

An eleven-year-old girl is many things, but she is not stupid.

I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.

I'd been in love with her for years. I never left this suburban town. I didn't go to university. I went to Audrey.

At first, she could not talk. Perhaps it was the sudden bumpiness of love she felt for him. Or had she always loved him?

The first couple of times, he simply stayed - a stranger to kill the aloneness. A few nights after that, he whispered “Shhh, I’m here, its alright.” After three weeks, he held her. Trust was accumulated quickly, due primarily to the brute strength of the man’s gentleness, his thereness.