They finished laughing and caught their breaths, and looked at each other, and Ani thought Geric looked at her too long, as though he forgot he was looking, as though he did not wish to do anything else. She looked back. Her took heart took its time quieting down.

My ma says a rock lasts forever, but people don’t, and that’s what makes them more precious.

I was under the stars, like a fish is under water.

They weren't nice words he said. He could've lived a good life and died never having made a person feel rubbed down to bones and too sad to hold together.

And new, too. Remade. Ready to move again. Listening was the start, she decided. Doing was the next step.

Get back in my cot, girl," said Gilsa. "You're sickly." No, I'm not," said Ani. Oh, no? Well, maybe stubbornness is a sickness, did you ever think of that?

Right now I'd like all my troubles to stand in front of me in a straight line, and one by one I'd give each a black eye.