Jackie Morse Kessler

“On the flat expanse of pancake ice, War stood by the Pale Rider’s side. Though their forms did not touch, their shadows intertwined, black on black, in a smoky caress.“Knew you’d come,” Death said cheerfully.She smiled, and that slow motion of her lips hinted at many things. “The White Rider divided, and the world on the brink of destruction. How could I stay away?”“I could set my watch by you.”“You don’t have a watch.” Her smile broadened into a grin. “An hourglass, maybe . . .”“Please, not another joke about a scythe . . .”She mimed zipping her mouth shut.A pause, as they listened to the sounds of the boy healing and the man summoning doom.“I like him,” War said.Even though she hadn’t specified whether she meant the boy or the man, Death smiled and nodded. “Me too.”“You like everyone.”“Well, yes.”The two shared a quiet laugh, their voices mingling in perfect harmony.A longer pause, and then War asked, “What of Famine?”“What of her? She’s not mine. Not yet, anyway. She will be soon enough.”The Red Rider slid him a look. “That’s cold, even for you.”“Eh, just practical.” A shrug. “Everyone comes to me eventually. It’s the journey that makes it interesting.”“Such a people person!”He flashed her a grin. “My best quality.”“Oh,” said War, sliding her gloved hand into his pale one, “I can think of others that are better.”

“YOU DEMAND SALVATION EVEN AS YOU STEAL FROM THE COLLECTION PLATE.YOU SEND FOOD TO THE REFUGEES, AND THEN YOU DON'T ALLOW THE DELIVERY TRUCKS THROUGH THE WARZONES. THE FOOD WILL SPOIL , THE SUPPLIES WILL BE SOLD BY THE VICTORS . THE CIVILIANS WILL STARVE AND SICKEN AND EVENTUALLY DIE. IT IS THE WAY OF THINGS. THEY WILL ALL DIE, WHETHER FROM THE BRUTAL SAVAGERY THAT IS UNIQUE TO MAN OR FROM THE ABUNDANCE OF DISEASE OR FROM THE SCARCITY OF SUSTENANCE.”

“Fear is sweat, but terror is addictive.”

“THEY WILL ALL BETRAY YOU, War said.And they would. Whether it was her teachers or her friends or her family, they would all betray her. Maybe it would be couched in helpful terms, and maybe their faces would be brimming with sympathy. But in the end, they would all let her down.They would all cut her down.They would all slap labels on her and spoon-feed her appropriate words, wipe her mouth with their expectations. Theywould wind her up and make her dance, and when they were done they'd put her away. They would keep doing it and doing it, until she was nothing more than a shell, a skin, something to slip on and slip off and tuck in at the corners.They would ... unless she stopped them.”

“In a rush, the world opened its mouth to her—and it was screaming.Everywhere—the air around her, the ground beneath her, the stars above—rippled with the soul-wrenching cries ofhunger: the trees and bushes and plants all twisted and bent, their branches and stems clawing the sky in skeletal panic; theanimals and insects, flying and crawling and burrowing, each frantic in its own way, searching incessantly to end the gnawingdemand in its belly; the swarms of people, clotting the world, stuffing themselves only to beg for more, be it food or wealth orattention—all of them, desperate, insatiable. So very hungry.All of them, leeching on to her. Sucking her dry.”

“está bien, de verdad. lo que ella yo teniamos nunca se perderá. siempre estará allí, comoun libro que tú puedesreeler. pero este capítulo en particular ha llegado a su fin.”

“El hambre es parte de la vida. La vida esta en todas partes.”

“Vivir significa acercarse constantemente a la muerte. La satisfacción sólo alivia temporalmente el hambre. Encuentra el balance, y planta tus pies.”

“A smile flitted across War's mouth, hidden by her helmet. She had little patience for religion (although she approved heartily of the religious fanatics who sought to cleanse the world of heresy), and the only faith War had was in cold steel and hot blood.”

“Living means constantly growing closer to death. Satisfaction only temporarily relieves hunger. Find the balance, and plant your feet.”

“IF YOU HAVE EVER LOOKED IN THE MIRRORAND HATED WHAT YOUSAW,THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU.”

“She wanted to have him hold her and tell her all the demons were pretend, that there was no monster in her closet, that everything would be okay. But that was a lie. The demon was in her head, telling her she was too fat. She had to get the demon out. But she couldn't do it by herself.”

“Thou art hunger, yo. Make with the starvation.”

“I want to die.”