“One morning when the air was misleading and mild with hope....”

“She can feel his blood, just beneath his skin; when he breathes, the air fills with smoke. He's like a dragon, ancient and fearless.”

“... hoping that if she just walked down the same street fate would whirl her backward in time until she was once more (fill in your age), when the future was something she had not yet stepped into, when it was just an idea, a moment, something that had not disappointed her yet.”

“Outside, the September air was enticingly fragrant, yellow with pollen and rich, lemony sunlight.”

“Children would beg for a peppermint drop each time he walked into town, and they'd follow behind, asking for a second and a third. When he died suddenly, while working late at his office, every boy and girl in the village reported smelling mint in the night air, as if somehing sweet had passed them right by.”

“Heart, soul, treasure, rain, sister, memory, knowledge, hope, will.”

“When all is said and done, the weather and love are the two elements about which one can never be sure.”