The moon grew full, then slowly pared itself down until it shriveled into a ghostly boat riding above the roiling dark. Then it fell out of the sky. They climbed into it, left land behind, and floated out to sea.

...that once were urgent and necessary for an orderly world and now were buried away, gathering dust and of no use to anyone.

There are no simple words. I don't know why I thought I could hide anything behind language.

Night is not something to endure until dawn. It is an element, like wind or fire. Darkness is its own kingdom; it moves to its own laws, and many living things dwell in it.

Peace, tremulous, unexpected, sent a taproot out of nowhere into Morgan's heart.

Branches grew from his hands, his hair. His thoughts tangled like roots in the ground. He strained upward. Pitch ran like tears down his back. His name formed his core; ring upon ring of silence built around it. His face rose high above the forests. Gripped to earth, bending to the wind's fury, he disappeared within himself, behind the hard, wind-scrolled shield of his experiences.

Wisdom never learned silence, and it is most annoying when least wanted.