“She stood before him on the porch now, as living, breathing proof that fortune had not tipped itself in his direction all those years ago.”

“She inhaled deep breaths filled with salty air and watched the moon cast streaks across the rippling river, unable to determine in which direction it flowed or where it went, but suddenly curious about it for the first time.”

“She approached the car with a confident stride that implied she had lived on the block her whole life.”

“This was the place where someone had led her, only she could not remember who and could not remember when. Just that this was where she was now.”

“She was now on her way to an old world that was nothing but new to her.”

“Go have a birthday. Before you blink and its all over.”

“Parker sat on the opposite end of the couch, distracted by thoughts of the coming year and all the secrets it kept from her.”