“Lena knew she had spent too much of her life in a state of passive dread, just waiting for something bad to happen. In a life like that, relief was as close as you got to happiness. ”

“She is my mare and my best friend, and I keep waiting for something bad to happen to her, because I love her too much.”

“It was tragic how life had sucked her down to the bones, all her spontaneity her laughter and freedom had vanished. I knew then that I didn't ever want to be like that. Whatever happened, life was something too precious to give up on so easily.”

“I had to do something," she said. "I couldn't just sit and wait for life to happen to me any longer.”

“She had too much of everything, and so she longed to have less; less, she was sure, would bring her happiness. To me it was a laugh and a relief to observe the unhappiness that too much can bring; I had been so used to observing the reults of too little.”

“She had waited all her life for something, and it had killed her when it found her.”