“Yes, the wind came up--" Mrs. Sharpe began. She paused."And changed us all," Petra said softly.”

“The wind came up and changed us all..”

“The only sounds in the cave were the hopeless, abandoned sobbing, and plop-plop-plop of the drips. Petra looked at us, then at the figure on the bed, then at us again, expectantly. When neither of us moved she appeared to decide that the initiative lay with her. She crossed to the bedside and knelt down concernedly beside it. Tentatively she put a hand on the dark hair. 'Don't,' she said. 'Please don't.'There was a startled catch in the sobbing. A pause, then a brown arm reached out round Petra's shoulders. The sound became a little less desolate ... it no longer tore at one's heart: but it left itbruised and aching..”

“When you find yourself wondering, "How did I wind up here, on this Earth, in this life?" Try imagining that you came to dance. You simply tired of sitting this one out, and said, "Yes, I'd love to!" So you jumped up and began to create rhythm - back and forth, up and down. That's the dance of being alive.”

“So you love me," said Petra softly when the kiss ended.I'm a raging mass of hormones thet I'm too young to understand," said Bean. "You're a female of a closely related species. According to all the best primatologists, I really have no choice."That's nice," she said...”

“She imagined kisses on her neck and shoulder. Soft, light kisses; sharp, playful nips. Damn. Her imagination came in high-definition.”