Addison Moore

“Gage appears beneath me. 'Jump, and I'll catch you.' 'No.' I strengthen my death grip on the trunk of the tree. 'I'm very afraid of heights. I'll need hours of therapy to repair the damage done here today.' ”

“My clothes are native to the rug in the center of the room, which my mother has lovingly deemed the hamper.”

“Drake is my own personal suicide, and the sooner I except that, the sooner I can come to terms with my loner status at the school library”

“Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. It’s poison every single time.”

“The future wafts in and out of my world like a ghost - like a lumbering beast, begging to be tamed. For so long it sat locked in mystery, surrounding me, fickle as the wind. I see it now for the noose it is, the game that never satisfies, the warrior that always kills.The past proved to be set in stone, the immovable rock of my existence that cast its shadow into the valley of death. But it is the future’s bright light that draws me in, the blinding rays that pull me forward with bionic, magnetic, force. They row me towards my destiny with indescribable power, to a fate questionably determined - washed in the patina of hope.”

“Fear will do that to you— tattoo an unwanted memory right over the fabric of your soul, make you recall it at your weakest moment.”

“When you find that perfect person, you should never let go. Fate could step in.”

“Let me give you a piece of advice, and please retain it. I’d hate to needlessly expel air for the benefit of having you nod absentmindedly.”

“It is a season of hopelessness, of being lost, of wishing I could turn to dust and melt with the rain. Dreams and nightmares swell into my world, blur my vision with the broken boundaries of reality.”

“The wafts in and out of my world like a ghost- like a lumbering beast, begging to be tamed. For so long it sat locked in mystery, surrounding me, fickle as the wind. I see it now for the noose it is, the game that never satisfies, the warrior that always kills.The past proved to be set in stone, the immovable rock of my existence that cast its shadow into the valley of death. But it is the future’s bright light that draws me in, the blinding rays that pull me forward with bionic, magnetic, force. They row me towards my destiny with indescribable power, to a fate questionably determined-washed in the patina of hope.”

“Perfect knowledge is hallowed ground. It caresses you, cradles you with the barbed wire of truth. It grazes and tears at your flesh as though it ever really mattered- as if there were anything you could have done to stop it from penetrating you so completely.Revenge in the hand of your enemies is a loaded gun. You can beg them for mercy, wave the white flag of surrender, but the only true elixir for the vitriol they bestow is a measure of hatred dispensed of you own. Never lie down for the enemy. Never hand them the knife with which to slaughter you.The truth is a labyrinth. Secrets are the truths as sharp as razors ready to spread like a virus- ready to saw your existence in half.My truths came to light. They took shape in the form of my enemies until all of the color bled out from my world. It lacked the beauty and majesty of a black and white portrait. The landscape had glazed over in rusted tones of sepia-rancid-tarnished- with urine colored sky. My world glittered from the fragmented glass it had become.This is what I know. These are my truths.”

“Suffering is the nature of this world. It is the golden standard by which all things are measured. It is not happiness that sets the bar, but agony. Even happiness cannot be fully recognized without the right measure of misery to contrast its borders. Suffering magnifies hunger-exhaustion-prods you to move when prosperity is just a dream out of reach. It is the mortal twin of eternal hope. How you respond to its touch molds you, shapes your future as it rains down oppression like fire over your shoulders. Deception. It laid over my world like a bruise. Covered it so completely I bought the lie that the shadow offered and found comfort nestled in its thorny arms. I walked the trail it dusted with breadcrumb, walked in the slip noose it had skillfully wove and dove off the cliff without realizing- willingly, with vigor. Heartbreak. There is no bigger void, no darker shade of soot- no ache more unstoppable than that of a broken heart. A heart in pieces can very much kill you-without love’s healing touch, you will surely die. They say time heals all wounds. They lied.”

“I know the resolution. I know the end of the story before it ever begins. I must choose love. And for this, I will surely die.”

“I love you more than the heavens love the sun and the moon.”

“I ask mostly to see if I can get her to blush ten shades deeper, see if the color would bleed down her neck and light up her boobs like a pair of Christmas ornaments.”

“Before, I simply stepped off the ground, but with you—I’m in the stratosphere. You leave me breathless.”

“Kenny is a drug, and I’ve just had the best hit of my life. I’m not losing this addiction. I’m in, all the way, pledging my voluntarily servitude to the gateway of my desire. Kenny was the freedom I was longing for. Love and all this wild pent up desire, proved to be the combination that set me free. But only Kenny had the power to unleash me. She scrubbed the impurity from my life and washed clean the world, so I could see it stark and clear for the very first time. Kenny perfumed my existence with her regal charm, her sovereign splendor. Kenny is in everyway sublime.”

“I do want to believe in love. I want all of its trappings, and if it costs me my sanity and a very good divorce lawyer, so be it.”

“I believe in love because it exists. I don’t take other peoples’ failures and make them my own. I will find love, and it will prosper.”

“I think love is nothing but a fallacy propagated by the greeting card industry and a billion-dollar bridal enterprise that feeds into the fantasy of every little girl.”

“I’ve broken the worst promise I’ve ever made to myself, to never fall in love again.”

“Do yourself a favor—wait for someone special. Trust me, he’s not roaming the halls of your high school. And if he were, he wouldn’t be sleeping with some girl named Tracy, or Stacy, or anybody else. He’d only have eyes for you. Don’t give away something you can never get back, save it for someone you love and who really loves you, too.”

“Tricking someone into a relationship is the earmark of a despicable person”

“I can protect my heart now that I know better—now that I know love never works out in the end. Right?”

“If you don’t give your heart away, you can’t get it broken.”

“I’m not used to quiet girls. Moaning girls—screaming girls, now that I’m used to. Quiet worries me, makes me feel as if I’m doing something wrong.”

“To hell with it. I'm jumping in his bed tonight and having myself a nice little birthday. He's wearing cowboy boots for God's sake. The man doesn't play fair.”

“You're on a road show with your penis, and trust me, I'm the last person who wants to get in your way. But I'm telling you, operation occupy-my-vagina is a no-go for the evening.”

“The thought of my mother talking to me about sex makes me want to stab my eyes out with a fork, gouge even deeper and scramble my brains to prevent the conversation from ever happening.”

“Right. Like I'm going to lose my freaking mind and hop right down the demonic bunny trail with Marshall so he can paw me every chance he gets.”

“Breast milk is big business." My mother uses my sarcasm as a springboard for her insanity. "We should consider opening a shop that caters to that market. We can call it 'The Milk Bar' or 'Mother's Milk'."...Ethan slaps his hand on the counter. "We can have ice cream made from that shit." He nods into my mother, stony faces, as if he didn't just let an expletive fly.”

“There are two covenants that cease to exist in the Master's Kingdom - death and marriage.""What an appropriate pairing," I muse."He thought so.”

“There will be no slandering of celestial beings. I've warned you on countless occasions.""If said celestial beings weren't spreading celestial rumors, perhaps I wouldn't be moved to wrench celestial balls.”

“She is INSANE," I scream, standing in the middle of Marshall's living room."Of course, she's insane. That would be your genealogy by the way.”

“Personally." My mother digs a smile into the side of her cheek. "I'm rooting for Logan."Logan produces a grin that suggests he's the cat that ate the canary, and suddenly I'm feeling rather canary-ish.”

“Y'all got your heads tucked so far up your rears, she's petrified the kid's gonna need a shrink before he can shit in a dish.”

“Chloe Bishop took an ax and gave Skanky Skyla forty whacks. And when she saw what she had done, she gave her family forty-one." A tingle of fear rises through my spine as Chloe cackles her way into Ethan's bedroom.Chloe Bishop is certifiably insane.And dear God Almighty - I do believe she's going to kill us all.”

“The only thing that frightens me, Chloe, is that you keep lessening the six degrees of separation in our lives.”

“We all know whose side you're on," marshall says, picking him up and launching him toward the window. The explosive sound of glass shattering fills the room. The walls tremble from the sheer heft of his violent exit."What the hell?" Barron rushes in with a needle at the ready."I've removed your son from the premises per Skyla's wishes.”

“Rockaway? That's my special place with Gage - was anyway. Now it'll 'forever' be marked with gluttony and vomit - sounds about right.”

“The human placenta is filled with nutritious benefits, one of which is creating a fertile environment. At my age, I'm going to need all the help I can to have a baby, and if having a placenta smoothie or two helps - I won't count it out.""That's like some pretty satanic shit." Ethan is quick to observe. "Like voodoo or something.”

“Eat my food or die.""If I eat your food I WILL die." He belches before reaching in the fridge for a soda. "Yeah, whatever. Gimme something to commit a slow suicide with.”

“Hell - you'll be lucky to join the circus!""I don't need to join the circus." Ethan stretches his arms to the sky, bored with the entire situation. "I live with you, don't I?""He so got Tad there," I whisper.”

“We could call him Gynecological Gage or Assman - AssHOLE - take your pick.”

“What do you love?""You for doing this - you in general. Chocolate, sushi, malt shakes. All things I'm highly deficient in at the moment. Well, other than you.""What do you hate?""Chloe and clowns. Come to think of it, Chloe is a clown.”

“I'll save the sacking for later," he continues. "We can mimic the plays of our conjugal union in the privacy of my backyard. We can roll around on the lawn like animals and invent our own naughty games-Naked Leap Frog-Marshal May I-Hide the Peak-Red Light, Green Light District-Obstacle Intercourse-Hot Lava-Capture the Sector-Skyla Says-the possibilities are endless. Our throbbing loins will rep the victory. The entire scenario is, as you would say-made of win."~ Marshall”

“I’d hate to be responsible for removing one of Ephemeral’s star players from the roster. I’ll stay as far away from Coop as possible.” I dot the sentiment with an impish grin.“Hello,” a familiar voice booms from behind the counter.“Cooper!” I jump a little at the sight of him.Shit.”

“Great. Not only will I be a hairy bush, but I'll look as if I'm about to catch fire, I'll be the burning bush.”

“It's so freaking cold I'm about ready to jump in the refrigerator to warm myself.”

“Fate is bullshit people force-feed themselves when they're too lazy to carve out a destiny of their own.”