It amazes me what humans can do, even when streams are flowing down their faces and they stagger on, coughing and searching, and finding.

Or had she always loved him? It's likely. Restricted as she was from speaking, she wanted him to kiss her. She wanted him to drag her hand across and pull her over. It didn't matter where. Her mouth, her neck, her cheek. Her skin was empty for it, waiting.

Please, trust me, I most definitely can be cheerful. I can be amiable. Agreeable. Affable. And that's only the A's. Just don't ask me to be nice. Nice has nothing to do with me.

Shadows of cloud lurked in the water, like holes the sun forgot about.

My arms are killing me. I didn't know words could be so heavy.

Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father's eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver.

People observe the colors of a day only at its beginnings and ends, but to me it's quite clear that a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations with each passing moment. A single hour can consist of thousands of different colors. Waxy yellows, cloud-spot blues. Murky darkness. In my line of work, I make it a point to notice them.