The Declaration

He said to me that we belonged toghether because he was born with a flower and I was born with a butterfly and that Flower and Butterfly need each other to survive

I love you, Anna Covey,' he said, his voice barely audible. And slowly, clumsily, he leant forward, and his lips found hers, and as Anna felt him kiss her awkwardly, she knew that she wasn't a Surplus anymore. And nor was Peter. Surplus meant unnecessary. Not required. You couldn't be a Surplus if you were needed by someone else. You couldn't be a Surplus if you were loved.

But there was nothing beautiful about the word "brainwash". To clean the brain. To strip it bare.

Reading and writing were a dangerous business; they made you think.

...Sometimes her curiosity got the better of her and she found herself furtively asking questions about his life before Grange Hall, pretending as she did so that she wasn't really that interested. The truth was that Peter was a window through which Anna could glimpse the world outside, and the temptation to keep looking was quite overwhelming.

But was falling such a bad thing, she wondered. Was it, perhaps better to see the top of the mountain, even if only for a moment, than never to even try? Or was it that the higher you allow yourself to climb, the further you have to come crashing down to earth?

Nature is not about preserving old things, but about creating new ones. New life. New ideas.

Everyone would fear her again. And love her, of course. Mrs Pincent needed to be loved as much as wanted to be feared-to her they were two sides of the same coin. Both gave her total control.

It was his eyes, so challenging and with a piercing look about them. They were eyes that trusted in nothing and they made her uncomfortable around him, self-conscious.

But each time, nothing was done, because change carried risks, because change led to instability, because new technology meant using precious energy, and because, at the end of the day, no one really cared.

The snow is not falling for you.

What does time matter when every moment is stolen anyway?

I know that we have to live each moment because we won’t be here for ever, and that I wouldn’t want to be anyway, because knowing something’s going to end makes you appreciate it more, makes you want to savour every moment. And I know that I won’t sign the Declaration, even if it makes me different, even if it makes me suspicious. Because no one needs to live for ever. I think that sometimes you can outstay your welcome.

But sometimes they all craved a little bit of danger, of excitement, of meaning, even if only to reinforce how very comfortable and secure their lives really were.

But I do know that the world is the most beautiful place to be and that we're very lucky to be here. I know that we have to live each moment because we won't be here for ever, and that I wouldn't want to be anyway, because knowing something's going to end makes you appreciate it more, makes you want to savour every moment.

But it was a restless sleep, and throughout the night her dreams were filled with crying children, a woman screaming and a little butterfly, trapped in a cold, grey prison.

Se había puesto a escribir sin pensar. Y una vez empezó se dio cuenta de que no quería parar. Pensamientos y sentimientos que normalmente yacían ocultos tras las preocupaciones y el agotamiento empezaron a aflorar como si les faltara el aire

¿Tan malo era caer?, �se preguntó. �¿o era mejor, quizá, alcanzar la cumbre de la montaña, aunque sólo fuera un instante, a ni siquiera intentarlo?

Usually she loved to learn new words, treating them as exciting possessions that she could employ as she chose-in her journal, in her conversation-relishing the newness and beauty of each one.

There's a whole world out there, Anna, a whole world for us to explore.

It doesn't feel dangerous, it feels exciting, even though they're probably the same thing.

I vow to serve, to pay my dues And train myself for Legal use. I vow to bear the Surplus shame And repay Nature for the same I vow to listen, not to speak; To steel myself when I am weak. I vow to work and most of all To serve the State if it should call.

¿Tan malo era caer?, se preguntó. ¿o era mejor, quizá, alcanzar la cumbre de la montaña, aunque sólo fuera un instante,a ni siquiera intentarlo?

I think flowers can be just as important as food, sometimes. I think id depends what you're hungry for.