“Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack, all dressed in black, black, black. She has a knife, knife, knife, stuck in her back, back, back. She cannot breathe, breathe, breathe. She cannot cry, cry, cry. Thats why she begs, begs, begs. She begs to die, die, die..”

“She can sit up and beg, and
she can give her paw —
I don't say she will, but she can.”

“She read books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live. She read books as one would breathe ether, to sink in and die.”

“Annabeth came up to me. She was dressed in black camouflage with her Celestial bronze knife strapped to her arm and her laptop bag slung over her shoulder—ready for stabbing or surfing the Internet, whichever came first.”

“Her reasoning is full of tricks
And butterfly suggestions,
I know no point to which she sticks;
She begs the simplest questions,
And, when her premises are strong
She always draws her inference wrong.”

“She [Melanie] is the only dream I ever had that lived and breathed and did not die in the face of reality.”

“She needed to talk, she needed to cry, she needed to vent all her frustrations and disappointments.”

“she whispered.
I took a deep breath, I said, blinking back tears.”

“Mariam always held her breath as she watched him go. She held her breath and, in her head, counted seconds. She pretended that for each second that she didn't breathe God would grant her another day with Jalil.”

“When she comes
She pulls you close
She breathes in short bursts
Her eyes close
Her head tilts back
Her mouth opens slightly
Her thighs turn to steel, and then melt
She is perfect
And you feel like you are everything.”