“I can see the singles ad now: ‘Three straight men, a gay man and a woman trapped in one body, seeks a lady willing to share her lipstick and shoes. A perfect match must enjoy cleaning automatic weapons, dividing anti-psychotic drugs into a weekly pill keeper, and long walks on the beach.’ The calls would just pour in.”

“My life will never be extravagant; it will be simple, but I promise it will be filled with love, laughter, and stars released from jars, when I catch enough fireflies. ~Elijah Dirk "Epitaphs from the Afterlife”

“Stop being the shy boy that wants to do everything right and responsibly. I’m sick of your honorable intentions Eli. In fifty years, when I’m old in my bed I want to wake up when the sun shines in my window and know that the person lying beside me was the right choice. I don’t want to look at someone else and always wish it was you.” ~ Maggie Parsons from Epitaphs from the Afterlife”

“My first kiss as a single woman. It sent a tingle sprinting down my spine like a tingle panther.”

“I can explain myself: If you want to be safe, walk in the middle of the street. I’m not joking. You’ve been told to look both ways before crossing the street, and the sidewalk is your friend, right? Wrong. I’ve spent years walking sidewalks at night. I’ve looked around me when it was dark, when there were men following me, creeping out of alleyways, attempting to goad me into speaking to them and shouting obscenities at me when I wouldn’t, and I suddenly realised that the only place left to go was the middle of street. But why would I risk it? Because the odds are in my favour. In the States, someone is killed in a car accident on average every 12.5 minutes, while someone is raped on average every 2.5 minutes. Even when factoring in that, one, I am generously including ALL car-related accidents and not just those involving accidents, and two, that the vast majorities of rapes still go unreported […] And, thus, this is now the way I live my life: out in the open, in the middle of everything, because the middle of the street is actually the safest place to walk.”

“She's locked up with a spinning wheelShe can't recall what it was like to feelShe says, "This room's gonna be my graveAnd there's no one who can save me,"She sits down to her colored threadShe knows lovers waking up in their bedsShe says, "How long can I live this wayIs there someone I can pay to let me go'Cause I'm half sick of shadowsI want to see the skyEveryone else can watch as the sun goes downSo why can't IAnd it's rainingAnd the stars are falling from the skyAnd the windAnd the wind I know it's coldI've been waitingFor the day I will surely dieAnd it's hereAnd it's here for I've been toldThat I'll die before I'm oldAnd the wind I know it's cold...She looks up to the mirrored glassShe sees a horse and rider passShe says, "This man's gonna be my death'Cause he's all I ever wanted in my lifeAnd I know he doesn't know my nameAnd that all the girls are all the same to himBut still I've got to get out of this place'Cause I don't think I can face another nightWhere I'm half sick of shadowsAnd I can't see the skyEveryone else can watch as the tide comes inSo why can't IBut there's willow treesAnd little breezes, waves, and walls, and flowersAnd there's moonlight every single nightAs I'm locked in these towersSo I'll meet my deathBut with my last breath I'll sing to him I loveAnd he'll see my face in another place,"And with that the glass aboveHer cracked into a million bitsAnd she cried out, "So the story fitsBut then I could have guessed it all along'Cause now some drama queen is gonna write a song for me,"She went down to her little boatAnd she broke the chains and began to float awayAnd as the blood froze in her veins she said,"Well then that explains a thing or two'Cause I know I'm the cursed oneI know I'm meant to dieEveryone else can watch as their dreams untieSo why can't I”

“Then I wake up. And, it's not the purple- hued light of the house at three in the morning that has woken me, or the sound of Payton stumbling into the bathroom. It's a hand. A single hand. So innocuous. I feel it before my eyes blink open. A slight weight on my hip. A current of electricity running through me, reshaping the air that I breathe. It takes only a second for me to process what it is, to rearrange the spaces in my head around the feel of his fingers on my body.”