I thought about how stupid it is, that all of us are born destined to desire somebody else, though desire brings with it such disappointment and pain. Humankind's history must be scored bloody with heartbreak. This hankering for affection is a blight upon us.

I would always be lonely, but no more alone.

Nothing was easy, and sometimes she failed, and sometimes she thought that the fairy stories were right, that there must indeed be easier ways of living happily ever after; but defeat is a poor ending to any tale, so she kept trying.

A small town is nothing but eyes and gaping maw; it pecks at its own like a flock of vicious birds.

I suppose that's what happens when you make other people's lives miserable: life gets miserable back at you.

Affection makes fools. Always, without exception, love digs a channel that's sooner or later flooded by the briny water of despair.

My life was pouring out my feet and seeping through cracks in the floor; yet still I knelt and did not move, for fear she'd let go my hands. Let me stay, I wanted to beg: Please don't make me go.