They'd branded me like some kind of animal. Lower than an animal. A number.

I would never see him again. But as I watched the tunnel race before my eyes, I was certain of one thing: I did trust him. Now I had only to trust in myself.

his thumbs ran over my cheeks. Our foreheads touched. My dreamscape scorched. He set fire to the poppies

My father thought I would lead a simple life; that I was bright but unambitious, complacant with whatever work life threw at me. My father, as usual, was wrong.

There was no normal. There never had been. "Normal" and "natural" were the biggest lies we'd ever created.

I like to imagine there were more of us in the beginning. Not many, I suppose. But more than there are now.

I always felt that sci-fi and fantasy were my thing. Bit of a geek, Im afraid. But I like creating worlds, and I felt it was a genre that gave me more freedom. It just seemed like I belonged there.