Karen Foxlee

“A glimpse, a little piece of their story, flapping like ribbon in the wind.”

“Everyone tiptoed backward and forward past the door and looked at her sadness like it was an exhibition. A jewel in its case.”

“The sun, sides bulging, squashed itself between two hills. It sent up a flare of golden light. The sky, patterned with a million tiny clouds like fish scales was illuminated.”

“Before everything happened I wished i had double voice box like a song bird so I could sing two songs at once, the way a bird can harmonize with itself. I wanted to sing crystal clear notes. I wanted to sing them one after anther in ascending order. And at the same time I wanted to let another fountain of notes descend from my heart.”

“It was only a little piece of knowledge but it felt as shiny and solid as a new twenty-cent piece in my hand to know i could find the thing that was wrong.”

“Sudden singing was the only type I really missed. When sudden singing happened it came out of the blue and made me feel so good that my toes curled up and I got goose bumps all over my body and tears in my eyes.”

“If i could have sung it would be a very sad song.”

“I would be a wedge-tailed eagle. I would only live for the joy of flight. I would soar at great heights, on top of the wind. I would be above everything, over the little towns clinging to the highway. I would be a part of everything.”

“After the kiss some of it still sparkled in the air around her.”

“When she stopped kissing him his hand went to her waist to pull her back. the sun beat down on us. The day quivered. The sky was as deep as the ocean. We breathed underwater.”

“Everything that she saw glowing during the day seemed tarnished beside the light that was at the heart of the evening. the bleached color of things replaced by a beauty that stole into everything. the pale yellow leaves grew golden. The white gems opened up their hearts and shone.”

“It was like a slap. I dont remember her being mean before that. It made Miranda smile. The smile that unlocked something in Beth like a key”

“The cicadas were singing a song.It was a one-noted, one-worded; The words sounded like "please".They were singing and singing and singing and the whole world was falling down.”

“If we knew everything would change we would have turned back but we didn't know. Thats how things happen. Especially sunny days hide dark moments in their pockets.”

“Our house was like sleeping beauties palace after the enchanted spell is cast”

“All those days had been removed, simply and precisely, whole weeks brimming with cloudless blue skies neatly severed and discarded. We needed Beth's name shouted not whispered.”

“This is because secrets are terrible things. Even the simplest ones”

“Big secrets were catastrophic. However hard you try to hide them, they bob to the surface and you must go over them again and again. They are taken out so often they become worn smooth as a river stone. You have to carry them around you like a baby. The secret grows until you feel like you are a skin that covers it, a thin skin, easily split, ripe”

“I'm really disappointed about how you've turned out," shouted Mum like Beth was a slightly burnt biscuit.”

“The tree seemed very sad to be involved in such a thing and it hung its dark head over them.”