“There’s something completely unnerving about seeing your parentsupset. I suppose it’s because they’re supposed to be the strong ones, butthat’s not just it. Ever since people are kids they use their parents as somesort of measurement for how bad a situation is. When you fall on the groundreally hard and you can’t figure out whether it hurts or not you look to yourparents. If they look worried and rush toward you, you cry. If they laugh andsmack the ground saying “Bold ground,” then you pick yourself up and geton with it.”

“Imagine something. Something that fits in the dark. Say the dark is the sky at night. Imagine something in it.”“A star?”“Yes.”“I can’t. I can’t see it.”“Okay. Don’t try to see it. Try to be it. Would you like to know what it’s like to be one? Be a star?”“A movie star?”“No, a star star. In the sky. Keep your eyes closed, think about what it feels like to be one.” He moved over to her and kissed her shoulder. “Imagine yourself in that dark, all alone in the sky at night. Nobody is around you. You are by yourself, just shining there. You know how a star is supposed to twinkle? We say twinkle because that is how it looks, but when a star feels itself, it’s not a twinkle, it’s more like a throb. Star throbs. Over and over and over. Like this. Stars just throb and throb and throb and sometimes, when they can’t throb anymore, when they can’t hold it anymore, they fall out of the sky.”

“And see those clouds?''Hard to miss''Those are cumulus clouds. Did you know that?''I'm sure I should.'They're the best ones.''How come?'Because they look the way clouds are supposed to look, the way you draw them when you're a kid. Which is nice, you know? ...”

“People will always try to stealyour power. When you do well, they’ll say it’s only because you’re rich and your parents are big shots. People who care about you will try to stealyour power, too, but they’ll go about it differently. When you fail at something, they’ll try to make you feel better by saying that nobody’s good ateverything, and you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. They might tell you not to feel bad about screwing up a math test because math’s hard for girls.Or they’ll say you shouldn’t worry so much about injustice in the world because you’re only one person. And even though they mean well, they’ll bemaking you less than what you can be.”

“In my kind of falling, there’s no landing. There’s only hitting the ground. Hard. Dead, or wanting to be dead. So the whole time you’re falling, it’s the worst feeling in the world. Because you feel you have no control over it. Because you know how it ends.”

“Stars aren’t supposed to cry. They’re supposed to laugh. (Zarek)How can I laugh when I have no heart? (Astrid)You have a heart. (He placed her hand over his.) One that only beats for you, princess. (Zarek)”