“Just a tiny little pain,Three days of heavy rain,Three days of sunlight,Everything will be alright,Just a tiny little pain.”

“But what does he want my heart for?" the little queen asked."He just wants to own it," replied the sea lion. "That is enough. He wants to look on its beauty and know that his hands alone can touch it.”

“Nothing was perfect, but everything was all right. The light was never just blue.”

“Next to that dragon Micha had wirtten: 'KIS EacH OthER'. Abel looked at Anna. Anna looked at Abel.'She is the little queen,' said Abel, 'in our fairy tale, at least.''One must obey the queen,' said Anna.”

“Abel lifted her up - another gesture from former times, from when she'd been smaller - and carried her to the bathroom to find the Band-aid. Suddenly, Anna thought, she's growing up. One day, she'll be too big to be carried around like that. One day, he won't be able to hold onto her, she'll move on, and he'll be left all alone. Maybe the responsibility for Micha is more of an anchor than a burden. A lifeboat. A wooden plank to hold onto so you don't drown.”

“Adults were always quick to tell her how much she looked like her mother, and how little like her father. Though Anna thought that on the inside she was much more like him. There was this strong, unbreakable will in her to fight for something, somwhere. But where? for what? and against whom?”

“Anna," he said for the fourth time, as if there was nothing more to say, now that she'd finally answered. Nothing but her name. As if he'd just called to make sure she existed.”