“talking above the pain of his broken heart”

“He had lived as a handful of taffy between his mother and his father all his life, had been pulled in so many directions, stretched here and there, that all he could do was plaster a mighty smile on his face.”

“Mattie felt drained, as though someone had stood her on her head and poured her entire heart and soul right out of her body.”

“the sort of kid who steered his bicycle around snakes crossing the road”

“Sometimes, in the dark of night, when no one else could hear him but me, he'd cry out, like he was fighting some silent little war in his head.”

“This is what keeps ghosts locked to the earth, that sweet burning need for something they loved and gave up too soon.”

“You don't jump off a bridge by mistake.”