Shane Jones

“The left side of my body is Bianca, and my right side is Selah. With no body I have no reason to move from this spot.”

“Когда Таддеус вернулся влес, троих мальчишек там не было. Таддеус поднял голову и увидел сидящих на ветви сов. Он спросил их, не видели ли они трех мальчишек. Совы говорить не могут, и Таддеус смутился. Походил вокруг в поисках следов. Заметил пергамент, прибитый к дереву. Прочитал на нем, что похищены еще трое мальчишек, и их следует добавить в список пропавших детей. Стояла и подпись: Февраль. Таддеус увидел уходящие от дерева следы. Несколько ярдов они тянулись по прямой. Потом образовывали круг. Снова прямая, и новый круг. После каждого круга следы менялись по форме: медвежьи, оленьи, беличьи, человеческие, и так далее. Следы уходили в чащу и терялись вдали.”

“I’m so confused it almost feels calm.”

“I don’t want to die, said February. This is what is going to happen, said the girl who smelled of honey and smoke. She walked over to February and whispered something in his ear.I hope that works, said February. I really do.I’d do it for you. I’d change our entire story if I could, she said. Our story, said February, is all wrong.”

“They held me and told me everything would be fine, that sadness would rise from our bones and evaporate in sunlight the way morning fog burned off the river in summer. My mother rubbed the kites on my hands and arms and told me to think of my lungs as balloons.I just want to feel safe, I said.”

“I dreamed you a field of running horses, Selah. For you, Bianca, a balloon the size of the sky, my body a kite you can throw into the air.Pull me by string and horse.Tell me everything won't end in death. That everything doesn't end with February. Dead wildflowers wrapped around a crying baby's throat.I've slowed my heartbeat to three beats a minute. I've redrawn the clouds into birds, a fox chasing them into the mountains.I'm going to move my hand today.I vomit ice cubes.There's a ghost next to me.Get up, Dad.(Light Boxes)”

“I wanted to write you a story about magic. I wanted rabbits appearing from hats. I wanted balloons lifting you into the sky. It turned out to be nothing but sadness, war, heartbreak. You never saw it, but there’s a garden inside me.”

“I've slowed my heartbeat to three beats per minute.”

“Selah wished for a moat to protect their home from February. Selah wished for the end of February and endless sadness and the end to the missing children. Selah wished for the rebirth of town and flight. Selah wished for a scrap of something beautiful.”