“Ready for the big Day of Tolerance?" she asks. "Are you kidding?" I ask. "I'd rather poke my eyes out with dull forks. But we have to do what we have to do, right?" Kristina nods. "I say we tolerate the shit out of it." - Ask the Passengers”

“She doesn't understand what she's asking, Jean-Claude said.No, but she asks, and if we do not do it, we will always wonder. I would rather thy and fail than regret having never tried at all.”

“Mom and Dad exchange a nervous glance and have a telepathic conversation about it. I hear every word. Do we let her out? It's past curfew. True, but look at that—at least she asked! I know! I can hardly believe it! She could have sneaked out, but she asked! I know! We're good parents! "What time will you be back?" Dad asks.”

“Why must you have this map?" she asks. "Even with a map, you will never leave this Town."She brushes away the bread crumbs that have fallen on her lap and looks toward the Pool."Do you want to leave here?" she asks again.I shake my head. Do I mean this as a "no", or is it only that I do not know?"I just want to find out about the Town," I say. "The lay of the land, the history, the people, ... I want to know who made the rules, what has sway over us. I want even to know what lies beyond."She slowly rolls her head, then fixes upon my eyes. "There is no beyond," she says. "Did you not know? We are at the End of the World. We are here forever.”

“Someone asked me today what we do about snow days. After all, we are homeschoolers, so we don't have to be bound by icy roads. Simply, here's what our family's thought on that is: I ask my children, "Would you rather be indoors doing schoolwork when it's nasty outside like it is today, or when it's sunny and 70F?" It works for us.”

“When one thing takes another away, what do we call that?” she asked my class. “Homicide!” I called out”