I know they are naught things, but I devour novels.” (p. 57).

No matter that we could be beheaded for this,” said Esa. “Heads are overrated.” “Yes, they are so unfashionable,” said Miri, imitating an Aslandian accent. “This spring, ladies of style are wearing their feathers in their necks.

All I've ever wanted was to be near you.

I wonder if everyone who faces death hurts like this. It's as though for the first time I realize how much just being alive makes my body ache. But I don't want that ache to stop.

Some people are born with the first word of a language resting on their tongue though it may take some time before they can taste it.

Writing a first draft and reminding myself that I'm simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.

He would never abandon her, never leave a gaping hole, and even if he died someday, he was preserved like a lab specimen from all the alcohol he imbibed, so he wouldn't look or act much different.