Liesel crossed the bridge over the Amper River. The water was glorious and emerald and rich. She could see the stones at the bottom and hear the familiar song of water. The world did not deserve such a river.

As we walk back, it feels like the city is engulfing us. Adrenalin still pours through our veins. Sparks flow through to our fingers. We've still been running in the mornings, but the city's different then. It's filled with hope and with bristles of winter sunshine. In the evening, it's like it dies, waiting to be born again the next morning.

Handfuls of frosty water can make almost anyone smile, but it cannot make them forget.

Can a person steal happiness? Or is just another internal, infernal human trick?

The bittersweetness of uncertainty: To win or to lose.

The human child – so much cannier at times than the stupefyingly ponderous adult.

Like most misery, it started with apparent happiness.