One never imagined that as the decades went by, one might drift into an unbounded country. It struck Lib now how alone in the world she was.
On the whole I am inclined to think that a witch should not kiss. Perhaps it is the not being kissed that makes her a witch; perhaps the source of her power is the breath of loneliness around her.
Little by little; the way out of the mine was as long as the way in.
It's called mind over matter. If we don't mind, it doesn't matter.
It was like wanting ice cream instead of meat loaf, and being told that children in refugee camps would be grateful for the meat loaf. Yes, of course she had nothing to complain about, compared to so...
In my experience of ward nursing, two shifts are more conducive to sleep than three. But
I was tired, she says. I made a mistake.You’re not tired anymore?She doesn’t say anything. Then she says, I am. But it’s OK.
I guess the time gets spread very thin likebutter over all the world, the roads and houses and playgrounds and stores, so there's only a little smear of time on each place, then everyone has to hurry...
Goodbye, Room. I wave up at Skylight. Say goodbye, I tell Ma. Goodbye, Room.Ma says it but on mute.I look back one more time. It's like a crater, a hole where something happened. Then we go out the do...
Change for your own sake, if you must, not for what you imagine another will ask of you.
At the balls he took me to there were many beautiful young women who didn't say a word. They answered every question with a shrug or a smile. If champagne got spilt down their dresses they only sighed...
The paper
She feels that surge of warmth, and this time she remembers what it means: not love but piss. Or the love that's mixed with piss and can't be separated from it.
Coffee’s the most important thing they sell because most of us need it to keep us going, like gas in the car.
When I was four I was watching ants walking up Stove and she ran and splatted them all so they wouldn’t eat our food. One minute they were alive and the next minute they were dirt. I cried so my eyes...
When I was as young as you are now I learned how to save my own life.
What this good man had sworn to protect me from was not the same as what I feared. I trusted that he would never let anything hurt me, but he would never let anything touch me either.
What does a promise mean, when it's made to a monster?
Wasn't it so often the girl --no matter how young-- who got blamed for having incited her molester with a look?
Thank you. Lib tried to think of some more conversational note to end on. It’s always intrigued me, she said, letting her voice rise, why you Sisters of Mercy are called walking nuns. We walk out into...