“grown-ups always say that things are complicated.”
“If it’s over, then don’t let the past screw up the rest of your life.”
“Where does a story truly begin? In life, there are seldom clear-cut beginnings, those moments when we can, in looking back, say that everything started. Yet there are moments when fate intersects with our daily lives, setting in motion a sequence of events whose outcome we could never have foreseen.”
“Sometimes, things don't work out the way we want them to.”
“It's okay to be sad. Everyone gets sad now and then. Even me.”
“That's good. And speaking of spelling, tell me -- do you wrap your head in a towel after you shower?”
“He put his arms around her. “Well, in my defense, then, whatever I did seemed to work, didn't it?”
She sighed. “I suppose.”
“You suppose?”
“What do you want? A medal?”
“For starters. A trophy would be nice, too.”
She smiled. “What do you think you're holding right now?”
“Miles: Well, things are kind of complicated right now. When you’re
a grown-up, you’ll understand.
Jonah: I don’t want to be a grown-up.
Miles: Why not?
Jonah: Because grown-ups always say that things are complicated.”
“Hey, Dad?"
"Yeah?"
Jonah walked in silence for a few steps. "It's okay if you like Miss Andrews."
Miles looked down in surprise. "It is?"
"Yeah," he said seriously. "Because I think she likes you.”
“You've always lived here, right?" Sarah asked.
"Except for the years I went to college."
"Didn't you ever want to move away? To experience something new?"
"Like bistros?"
She nudged him playfully with her elbow. "No, not just that. Cities have a vibrancy, a sense of excitement that you can't find in a small town."
"I don't doubt it. But to be honest, I've never been interested in things like that. I don't need those things to make me happy. A nice quiet place to unwind at the end of the day, beautiful views, a few good friends. What else is there?”
“Can I have a Happy Meal?"
"don't you think you're getting a little old for that?"
"I'm only seven, Dad.”
“You say that every morning.”
Miles shrugged. “You're late every morning.”
“Then wake me up sooner.”
“I have a better idea—why don't you go to sleep when I tell you to?”
“I'm not tired then. I'm only tired in the mornings.”
“Join the club.”
“He looks pretty broken up about the fact he won't see me tonight."
"Absolutely crushed," Sarah agreed with a nod.
"We were supposed to rent a movie together, you know."
Sarah shrugged. "It must be terrible to be forgotten so easily."
Miles laughed. He was smitten about her, no doubt about it.”
“If you'd rather not answer, you don't have to," Miles offered. "I'm sure it wouldn't change my impression of him, anyway."
"And what impression is that?"
"I don't like him."
Sarah laughed. "Why do you say that?"
"Because you don't like him."
"You're pretty perceptive.”
“I thought you didn't like staying after school."
"I didn't at first, but I kind of like it now."
"You do?"
He nodded. "Miss Andrews makes me feel special.”
“So . . . do you?” He persisted.
“Yes,” she said finally with a mystified laugh. “I wrap my head in a towel.”
He nodded, satisfied. “I thought so.”
“Did you ever think about cutting back on the caffeine?”
Miles shook his head. “Never.”
“Well . . . I mean . . .”
Her eyebrows lifted and she looked at him slyly. “You want to ask me about the fan again?”
He grinned. She'd never let him live that down.”
“You get to tour some of the historic homes and listen to ghost stories."
"This is what people do in small towns?"
"We could either do that or go sit on my porch, chew some tobacco, and play banjos.”
“That was the kind of life she’d had as a child, and it was the kind she wanted as an adult. But it hadn’t worked out that way. Things in life seldom
did, she’d come to understand”
“From behind her back, Sarah brought out a set of Matchbox cars, which she handed to Jonah.
“What's this for?” He asked.
“I just wanted you to have something to play with while you're here,” she said. “Do you like them?”
He stared at the box. “This is great! Dad . . . look.” He held the box in the air.
“I see that. Did you say thanks?”
“Thank you, Miss Andrews.”
“You're welcome.”
As soon as Miles approached, Sarah stood again and greeted him with a kiss. “I was just kidding, you know. You look nice, too. I'm not used to seeing you wearing a jacket and tie in the middle of the afternoon.” She fingered his lapel slightly. “I could get used to this.”
“Thank you, Miss Andrews,” he said, mimicking his son.”
“Maybe he suspected something, maybe he’d simply been around long enough to know that fairytales seldom came true”
“You’re beautiful and charming, and I can’t stop thinking about last night.” No, he
didn’t say that. Not exactly, anyway. What Sarah heard was, “Hey—how are you?”
“And you were wrong in the way you”
“sense of all this. The traffic clear, Miles made a U-turn and was on his way to”
“He'd simply been around long enough to know that fairy tales seldom came true”
“There is something terrible in the moments after waking up, when the subconscious
knows that something terrible has happened but before all the memories flash back in
their entirety”
“There is a path one takes when moving toward destruction. Like someone who has
one drink on a Friday night, and two the next, only to gradually and completely lose
control”
“I realize that I don’t know where to start. Not because I’m unsure of my story, but because I’m not sure why I feel compelled to tell it in the first place. What can be achieved by unearthing the past?”
“The big problem is not How to explain the existence of evil in this world. It's How to explain the existence of good.”
“Dana had four beautiful eyes. She wore glasses. But her eyes were so beautiful that the glasses only made her prettier. With two eyes she was pretty. With four eyes she was beautiful. With six eyes she would have been even more beautiful. And if she had a hundred eyes, all over her face and her arms and her feet, why, she would have been the most beautiful creature in the world.”
“The Hawk hired fifty harpers and jesters and taught them new songs. Songs about the puny fairy fool who had been chased away from Dalkeith-Upon-the-Sea by the legendary
Hawk. And being such a legend in his own time, his tales were ceded great truth and staying power. The players
were delighted with the epic grandeur of such a wild tale. When they had rehearsed to perfection the ditties and
refrains portraying the defeat of the fool, the Hawk sent them into the counties of Scotland and England. Grimm
accompanied the group of players traveling to Edinburgh to help spread the tale himself, while Hawk spent late hours by the candle scribbling, crossing out and perfecting his command for when the fool came. Sometimes, in the wee hours of the morning, he would reach for his set of sharp awls and blades and begin carving toy soldiers and dolls, one by one.”
“You can take the girl out of the library, but you can’t take the neurotic, compulsively curious librarian out of the girl.”
“He glanced up. His eyes were pure white. Great, his brights were on, but nobody was driving.”
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