Michael Dorris · 372 pages
Rating: (15.7K votes)
“Don't ask so many questions and they will all be answered.”
― Michael Dorris, quote from A Yellow Raft in Blue Water
“How long does it last?" Said the other customer, a man wearing a tan shirt with little straps that buttoned on top of the shoulders. He looked as if he were comparing all the pros and cons before shelling out $.99. You could see he thought he was pretty shrewd.
"It lasts for as long as you live," the manager said slowly. There was a second of silence while we all thought about that. The man in the tan shirt drew his head back, tucking his chin into his neck. His mind was working like a house on fire
"What about other people?" He asked. "The wife? The kids?"
"They can use your membership as long as you're alive," the manager said, making the distinction clear.
"Then what?" The man asked, louder. He was the type who said things like "you get what you pay for" and "there's one born every minute" and was considering every angle. He didn't want to get taken for a ride by his own death.
"That's all," the manager said, waving his hands, palms down, like a football referee ruling an extra point no good. "Then they'd have to join for themselves or forfeit the privileges."
"Well then, it makes sense," the man said, on top of the situation now, "for the youngest one to join. The one that's likely to live the longest."
"I can't argue with that," said the manager.
The man chewed his lip while he mentally reviewed his family. Who would go first. Who would survive the longest. He cast his eyes around to all the cassettes as if he'd see one that would answer his question. The woman had not gone away. She had brought along her signed agreement, the one that she paid $25 for.
"What is this accident waiver clause?" She asked the manager.
"Look," he said, now exhibiting his hands to show they were empty, nothing up his sleeve, "I live in the real world. I'm a small businessman, right? I have to protect my investment, don't I? What would happen if, and I'm not suggesting you'd do this, all right, but some people might, what would happen if you decided to watch one of my movies in the bathtub and a VCR you rented from me fell into the water?"
The woman retreated a step. This thought had clearly not occurred to her before.”
― Michael Dorris, quote from A Yellow Raft in Blue Water
“These boots were made for dancing"(260)”
― Michael Dorris, quote from A Yellow Raft in Blue Water
“I'm not what they expect. About once a year I get discovered, get called a diamond in the rough.”
― Michael Dorris, quote from A Yellow Raft in Blue Water
“She'd have the two of them eating out of her shoe. I've watched her in action, but I could never get away with it. And, I console myself, being cute hasn't made her all that happy.”
― Michael Dorris, quote from A Yellow Raft in Blue Water
“As soon as Jack had squeezed around the boxes and out the door, Charlie pulled the covers back up to his chin and thought about what the witch had said. I’ve never seen anyone as scared as you, Charlie Laird. Was it true?”
― Jason Segel, quote from Nightmares!
“Adam shakes his head. “The point isn’t to forget what happened to us.”
“I didn’t mean forget, like, I wouldn’t actually remember what had happened. I just don’t want to be constantly reminded of what I look like now.”
“Like Clyde said, eventually you have to accept it.”
I shake my head. “That’s not what Clyde said.”
“Yeah, but you know as well as I do that that’s what he was getting at.”
“Well, now you’ve deprived me of the chance to figure it out myself. I’m going to tell Clyde on you.”
“Tattletale,” Adam says, grinning. “Seriously, though, Maisie—acceptance is the key. Acceptance is everything.”
“Don’t use your motivational speech stuff on me.”
“How do you know I give motivational speeches?”
“I Googled you.”
“You Googled me?”
“Right after we met.” I don’t add that I haven’t looked up any other injuries since I Googled his.
“Guess I made quite an impression, huh?”...
“Nah,” I answer. “I was just impressed you found a way to parlay your injury into a lucrative career.”
― Alyssa B. Sheinmel, quote from Faceless
“Of course every person you meet in life has an impact on who you become, no matter how small the interaction, everything matters.”
― Katerina Diamond, quote from The Teacher
“Our friendship was like glass, fragile and irreplaceable. One moment of weakness … one mistake … and it might have shattered completely. Our friendship was worth too much to me to risk even the slightest crack.”
― K.K. Allen, quote from Up in the Treehouse
“Some things you can’t apologize for, you just have to try to get around them,” Hattie replied. “For your own sake too, so you can have a little peace.”
― Ayana Mathis, quote from The Twelve Tribes of Hattie
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