Bird and bear and hare and fish, give my love her fondest wish.

Listening to it was like having a mud-slimed piece of silk drawn lightly back and forth across her face.

Love, the simplest, strongest, and most unforgiving of all emotions.

But there's one thing I'm sure about. An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this.

A person can go along quite awhile if they get a good day every once and again.

A kid of your age---any kid---could get hold of matches if she wanted to, burn up the house or whatever. But not many do. Why would they want to?

And when there are enough outsiders together in one place, a mystic osmosis takes place and you're inside.