Quotes from Monument 14

“Night came and fell hard.
Not like God drawing a blanket over our land
But like someone snuffing a candle.
Sudden and total.
Out—just like that.
Now we are waiting.
Waiting in the dark
To see if someone
Will switch on the light.
We can cower,
We can fear,
We can get lost together or
Get lost alone.
But the truth is:
I am the light. You are the light.
We are lit up together.
We are silhouettes of sunlight
cast against the night.
Shining now, let us
Shining, hold the light,
Shining, so that our families
Can find us.
Shining.”
― Emmy Laybourne, quote from Monument 14

“Your mother hollers that you're going to miss the bus. She can see it coming down the street. You don't stop and hug her and tell her you love her. You don't thank her for being a good, kind, patient mother. Of course not- you launch yourself down the stairs and make a run for the corner.
Only, if it's the last you'll ever see your mother, you sort of start to wish you'd stopped and did those things. Maybe even missed the bus.
But the bus was barreling down our street so i ran.”
― Emmy Laybourne, quote from Monument 14

“Sometimes, when you'd least expect it, the grief would chop your legs out from under you.”
― Emmy Laybourne, quote from Monument 14

“Nuestro padre le había enseñado a analizar las cosas que temía.
Así que ir de trato o truco con él, cuando era pequeño, era como escuchar una reunión de información técnica: —Eso no es una bruja de verdad, es una figura de plástico con luces LED para los ojos y una pista pregrabada de chirridos.
Esas no son tumbas reales, sino que son de PVC moldeadas en forma de lápidas, con frases espeluznantes escritas por un escritor de bromas. Esos no son verdaderos demonios que vienen por la calle, esos son los chicos de laescuela secundaria vestidos con trajes que consiguieron en Walgreens o tal vez por medio de un pedido en línea...
Y todo el tiempo Alex había apretado mi mano, como si le ofreciera el último vínculo con la cordura. Me había gustado ser su protector, el que le hiciera sentirse seguro.
Razón por la cual me sentía aún peor por haberlo atacado.”
― Emmy Laybourne, quote from Monument 14

“I tell you, just when you think you know someone, she shows up looking pretty and carrying a guitar.”
― Emmy Laybourne, quote from Monument 14

“We ate it like it was medicine. Like it was magic candy that could somehow restore us to a normal life again. We ate ourselves numb and got in our bags and went to sleep.
There was a lot of crying from the little kids and occasionally one of us would yell, "Shut up!"
That's how we got by, that first night.”
― Emmy Laybourne, quote from Monument 14

“Now, anyway, we knew who was which blood type.
In addition to the beating he'd received from Chloe, Max was also starting to blister up (type A). The McKinley twins were hiding from us - they clearly had the paranoia (type AB). Ulysses was chattering to himself in Spanish, a rapid-fire monologue that made me pretty sure he had the paranoia type - type AB - as well as the twins.
Batiste had type B, the blood type that exhibited no symptoms, as did Alex, Jake, and Sahalia (sterility and reproductive failure - hooray!).
"We have to get them clean," Brayden said.
"You think?" I sort of shouted at him (type O).”
― Emmy Laybourne, quote from Monument 14

“All right," Jake said, clapping his hands. "Which one of you little punks is gonna teach me how to play Chutes and Ladders?”
― Emmy Laybourne, quote from Monument 14

“I started to sing.
Yes, sing.
"I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy. Yankee Doodle Do or die."
I let go of Henry and Caroline and started marching, like I was the leader of a parade.
"An old old something something la la la, born on the Fourth of July." So maybe I didn't know the words, exactly.
Alex joined in. Astrid, too. All three of us marching like idiots.
"You're my Yankee Doodle sweetheart, Yankee Doodle do or die."
I led the three of us, making up the words somewhat and we walked in front of the gate, getting between the eyes of the little kids and the plywood, just trying to break the terror spell of the monster outside.
Who now stared to yell, "YOU SINKING 'YANKEE DOODLE'? 'YANKEE DOODLE DANDY'? I'LL F--- KILL YOU!"
Niko joined in and that guy, I am here to tell you, is entirely tone deaf.
But the little kids kind of snapped to. We caught their attention.
"Yankee Doodle went to town a riding on a pony. I am a Yankee Doodle guy."
And the kids started marching and I led the parade, the saddest parade in the history of the world, away from the front of the store, away from the monster outside, and right to the stupid cookie and cracker aisle. We ate fudge-covered graham crackers for a good long while.”
― Emmy Laybourne, quote from Monument 14

“Our Father, who art in Heaven, Halloween Thy Name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive the breast passers, and forgive the breast passes against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.”
― Emmy Laybourne, quote from Monument 14

“There I saw Chloe, freshly bathed, wrapped in a towel, eating fun-size butterfingers one after another like a chain smoker and watching me like I was her soap opera.”
― Emmy Laybourne, quote from Monument 14

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