Regina Doman

“Because I liked you better than it suits a girl to say,It irked you and I promised to throw the thought awayTo put the world between us, we parted stiff and dry'Goodbye' and you: 'Forget me'.'No fear I will' said I. Now here where clover whitensThe dead man's knoll you passAnd now tall flower to meet youStarts in the trefoiled grassHalt by the headstone naming the heart no longer stirredAnd say the girl that loved youWas one who kept her word.”

“How do you say, 'Bring me steak and eggs or I'll slit your throat' in Italian?”

“Every once in awhile you just have to go out and do something, very crazy and very right, just to dare yourself to live. I don't mean something stupid and destructive, just something fun and good and beautiful.”

“skin white as snow, hair black as night...”

“Evil things often look beautiful. But that's because they've stolen the beauty from the good.... Evil isn't beautiful on its own.”

“She hurried off, leaving Rose feeling like the tiny soap suds left over from a burst bubble.”

“Some of them are okay, but the popular girls like to pick on my sister, and almost all the guys are gross. I don't know why guys are like that. Do you?”

“Some scars never heal. And he sounds like he has a lot of them.''But Christ had scars too, even on His risen Body. Wounds in this life become glory in the next.”

“The world was still a turbulent and uncertain place. And there were serpents.But serpents still make the world a place for adventures, Rose reminded herself.”

“I think that if a real princess was lost in this modern world and she could be whatever she wanted, she would be a musician,' Blanche said slowly. 'A violinist, or a harpist. That would be the only place where she could find solace for her lost kingdom.”

“You're drinking in the joy of life,' Bear told her when she tried to explain why she was laughing. 'There's so much opportunity for drinking deeply of it, and we very rarely do it. When you do, it makes you feel alive all over.”

“Standing in the back of the dark opera house and gazing at the huge stage before them, gay with gold-scrolled scenery and sumptuously costumed singers, the air vivid with bright music, was one of the most enthralling experiences of Blanche's life. For a time, she forgot her doubts about reality in the sheer delight of illusion. But, as Rose reminded her during the intermission, perhaps it wasn't illusion. Perhaps it was a glimpse of what reality was really like.”

“The sense of danger made her lift up her head higher. There were battles coming. But life was meant to be a battle, wasn't it? There was nothing to fear.”

“Blanche reached out and clung to her sister's hand. Rose felt her thin mittened fingers clutching her own. She knew her sister was beginning to be frightened. But Rose was too caught up in the mystery to be afraid. She strained to hear the enchanted song Bear was listening to. Her heart was pounding, but to the rhythm of a marching drum, not fear. There was a sense of purpose here, and although she did not understand it, she rejoiced to be a part of it.”

“Evil isn't beautiful on its own. You know?''Well, good people are sometimes ugly-' Blanche said at last.'I don't know about that. Not really,' Bear shook his head. 'If the good's there, and you look for it, you'll see it in some way.''I think Bear is right,' Rose said decidedly. 'Fairy tales teach you that. No one who's really good ever stays ugly. It's always a disguise.”

“Can you imagine a princess who works as a counter girl in a fast-food restaurant? I'm sure there's one somewhere. Imagine if all the people who came in to place orders were to realize that their meal was served by a princess! I don't think most people could handle it.''I think it would be hard for a real princess to have to do menial work like that,' Blanche reflected. 'She might think it was beneath her.''Oh, but a real princess would know that hard work ennobles the soul,' Rose objected. 'That would be one of the signs.”

“There are billions of men in the world, probably millions near my age. Maybe hundreds who are compatible with me. Maybe at least a dozen who would want to date me. There's got to be at least five on the continent whom I could probably marry. So why am I so hung up on this one guy?”

“Hello again, violinist,' he said in a hoarse voice. 'Fancy meeting you here.”

“His eyes gravitated towards the wall-to-wall bookshelf at one end of the room. 'You folks like books, I see.”

“There's something strange about you-" she started to say.Oh, well, thanks!" he chuckled, his brown eyes twinkling at her.”

“I'm not afraid," she said defensively. Now he seemed humored. "Of course. You're not afraid of anything. At least you think you're not. That's why I'm sending you home." Thank you for your advice." Rose thrust her chin in the air and marched away, not looking back. She was almost sure she heard him laughing softly behind her.”

“My skin's too white." she said.Says who, Snow White?" he said, touching her cheek lightly with one hand.”

“One of my heroes, G.K. Chesterton, said, "The old fairy tales endure forever. The old fairy tale makes the hero a normal human boy; it is his adventures that are startling; they startle him because he is normal." Discovering that the modern world can still contain the wonder and strangeness of a fairy tale is part of what my novels are about.”

“She remembered that once, when she was a little girl, she had seen a pretty young woman with golden hair down to her knees in a long flowered dress, and had said to her, without thinking, "Are you a princess?" The girl had laughed very kindly at her and asked her what her name was. Blanche remembered going away from her, led by her mother's hand, thinking to herself that the girl really was a princess, but in disguise. And she had resolved that someday, she would dress as though she were a princess in disguise.”

“Bear heard Rose in the background saying, 'Why thank you, Mr. Fish.''Good redhead. Helpful redhead,' Fish returned.”

“I won't get killed,' Rose protested.Is that a promise?' Fish asked dryly, stirring his tea. 'If you break your word, I'll never believe you again.'Rose shook her head at him. 'How can you even taste your tea if you put that much sugar in it?'Don't change the subject. I don't want to be responsible for depriving the world of Rose Brier. Under no circumstances are you allowed to help us do anything more dangerous than...change the oil in my car.”

“Fish sighed and reached for the hotel phone. 'How do you say, "Bring me steak and eggs or I'll slit your throat" in Italian?' he asked.”

“Do you know, I always imagine that the subway trains are dragons,' Rose said to Bear as they clung to his coat for support in the swaying car. 'Tearing back and forth across the city in their underground caves, devouring people and spitting them out at random destinations.”

“Can you imagine anything more tragic?' Rose asked. 'To be born a princess --native and to the manor born-- and then to forget who you are and settle for being something horrible like an--an accountant!”

“Oh, but a real princess would know that hard work ennobles the soul,' Rose objected. 'That would be one of the signs.”

“What is your name?' Mother queried....Bear,' he said.”

“There was a silence. Then Paul looked at Alex.'She knows Chesterton.''She lives,' said Alex.”

“Every once in a while you just have to decide to do something very crazy and very right--just to dare yourself to live. I don't mean doing something stupid and destructive--just something fun and good and beautiful.”

“Blanche, prosaic in a pale yellow sweater and blue jeans, was wondering again if anything mattered—-life, faith--specifically, finishing homework assignments.”

“I shall have twenty cats and talk to them all," she said, picking up the volume of poetry. "My cats and I shall have fish every day for dinner." Her imagination taking flight, she finished, dropping the book into the box, "And I shall memorize every line in this book and paint it in calligraphy on my living room walls.”

“She couldn’t picture anyone falling madly in love with such a person as Fish. What a name, Fish...Fish: think cold, slippery, detached. Benedict: think dry scholarly monk from the Dark Ages. Denniston: think English preparatory school, stolid country squire. Nothing about his name sounded the least bit romantic.”

“It was Night. In most places, Night is a time for sleep, for calm, and for mystery. But not in New York City, where many things conspired every evening to murder the night.”

“How do you say 'bring me sausage and eggs or I'll slit your throat' in Italian?""Look it up in the phrase book.”

“Have you ever felt that there was something going on in life that not everyone was aware of?”

“The boys at school are so degenerate that it makes one feel pessimistic about the future of the male gender in general.”