“Olgun! Wake up!"Her mind was filled with a sense of self-righteous andvaguely drowsy protest."Sure you weren't, she needled at him. You were justpracticing snoring, so you'd be sure to get it right later on,yes?"Olgun's response very strongly resembled an indignantsnort.”

“Olgun?, she asked, her tone again little more than abreath."Dogs?"A pause, an answer."Ah. And do you think you should maybe do somethingabout that?"Self-satisfied gloating."You already did." It wasn't a question.Another affirmative.Widdershins sighed. "I hope you didn't hurt them."Olgun sent a flash of horror running through her, so strongthat she felt herself shudder."All right, I'm sorry!, she hissed. I know you like dogs. Iknow you wouldn't hurt them! I wasn't thinking!"The god sniffed haughtily.”

“Being with Stella, having her so completely, was like waking up from a dream; all his senses were so heightened that he wasn’t sure if he was still dreaming or not.It was perfect.She was perfect.”

“Real, she imagined later on, was something else; it had nothing to do with things you could touch. Real was being seen, noticed, acknowledged, and later remembered. Real was people thinking about you when you weren't in the room. If others thought about you, then you must be more than a made-up dream. You need other people to be real, she decided. Otherwise you might just be a speck, an atom, inventing an elaborate story. It seemed like a paradox, but it must be so. She knew other people were real by thinking about them. Her thinking of her parents and her brothers, her school friends, were proof that they were real. They were both outside and in her head. But how could she be sure she was in anyone's head?”

“If you are renewed by grace, and were to meet your old self, I am sure you would be very anxious to get out of his company.”

“She smiled at him, making sure that the smile gathered up everything inside her and directed it toward him, making him a profound promise of herself for so little, for the beat of a response, the assurance of a complimentary vibration in him.”