“He liked to observe emotions; they were like red lanterns strung along the dark unknown of another's personality, marking vulnerable points.”

“I was almost awestruck when I realized that like this meant without a condom. Jack's vulnerability shone through him in that exact moment like a lighthouse beacon in a raging storm. Somewhere along the way, we'd crossed an imaginary line where feelings and emotions blurred into the unknown. A place neither of us dared to go before.”

“The instant of petrified violence that sometimes foreruns a summer storm saturated the hushed yard, and in the unearthly tinseled light rusty buckets of trailing fern which were strung round the porch like party lanterns appeared illuminated by a faint green inward flame.”

“The difficulty that accompanies you is less like the dark than a trusted lantern to see your way by.”

“I don't see why you two can't get along.""It is a personality issue," Rathenridge muttered.Dentin looked at him. No emotion, no reaction, simply bland observation. "Yours?”

“This is you." She pointed at the stick figure with enormous red curly marks and blue eyes.Did my hair really look like that? I ran a hand over my head, feeling a bit like Little Orphan Annie.”