Watching them, she realized they made so much sense together. Every look, every touch, was a reassurance, almost electric, as if they were shocking each other with every contact.

If anyone had been paying attention to the signs, they would have realized that air turns white when things are about to change, that paper cuts mean there's more to what's written on the page than meets the eye, and that birds are always out to protect you from things you don't see.

Books can be possessive, can't they? You're walking around in a bookstore and a certain one will jump out at you, like it had moved there on its own, just to get your attention. Sometimes what's inside will change your life, but sometimes you don't even have to read it. Sometimes it's a comfort just to have a book around. Many of these books haven't even had their spines cracked. 'Why do you buy books you don't even read?' our daughter asks us. That's like asking someone who lives alone why they bought a cat. For company, of course.

If we measured life in the things that almost happened, we wouldn't get anywhere.

Sometimes its necessary to embrace the magic, to find out what's real in life, and in one's own heart.

Sometimes people who had been together for a long time got to imagining that things used to be better, even when they weren't.

But relying on one person for your every need is so dangerous. One set of hands isn't enough to keep you from falling.