I smell fear, he said with a quiet intensity. But not nearly enough.

Normally Connor would walk away from a conversation like this. His life is about tangibles: things you can see, hear and touch. God, souls, and all that has always been like a secret in a black box he couldn't see into, so it was easier just to leave it alone. Only now, he's inside the black box.

Small victories are bet­ter than none.

I think all mothers are alike, regardless of cultural background, when it comes to illogical cleaning.

Which is worse, Risa often wondered, to have tens of thousands of babies that no one wanted or to silently make then go away before they were even born

My grandmother used to say that twisting paths always cross again," he told her. "And whose paths are more twisted than ours?

You know that feeling you get when your leg falls asleep? Well, I suddenly had that feeling in my spine. Like termites were chewing through the marrow in my backbone.