You notice that he does not ask, Where am I?" says the Mayor's voice, moving out there, somewhere. "His first words are, Where is she? And his Noise says the same. Interesting.

"You can eff off, too," I say, except I don't say eff, I say what 'eff' stands for.

The green things of this world are just wondrous, aren’t they?” his mother went on. “We work so hard to get rid of them when sometimes they’re the very thing that saves us.

To say you have no choice is to relieve yourself of responsibility.

Doing what's right should be easy. It shouldn't be just another big mess like everything else.

So we forgive each other?" The crooked smile climbs up one more time. "Again?" And I look right into his eyes, right into him as far as I can see, because I want him to hear me, I want him to hear me with everything I mean and feel and say. "Always," I say to him. "Every time.

That's another thing about Noise. Everything that's ever happened to you just keeps right on talking, for ever and ever.