“I only have have one question, scraping the inside of me. Answer it, and I will stumble back into her shadow, shut my mouth, never ask again. I've tried to ignore it, but it won't go away. It haunts my dreams, chases me through every single day, and I don't have the strength to turn around, face it down. So please tell me and I swear I'll never ask again. It's in your power to make it go away, and all you have to do is tell me why you love her more.”

“SmokeYou stand infront of me,pretending to be solid,but you are nothing morethan smoke and mirors. You said you'd never leave,that you would care for us forever,but now you claim youcannot stay?That you've been called away.When you go,who will i turn to when it allcrashes down?Tell me who.Then tell me,how I can believeanone again, if all your promises have been lies.”

“I hear. Nobody thinks so. But I do. Sometimes people whisper. Sometimes they yell. Sometimes they say mean things. I see more than the TV. It's my friend. I don't have any others, like the kids on Barney do. Why are people afraid of me? I don't want to hurt them. I taste only the sweet air, whooshed through tubes to help me breathe. If I'm lucky a bit of flavor comes with the wind or skin or clothes I smell. I wish my mouth would let me tell Mama I love her. Let me tell Daddy I ms him. Let me tell Shane how good I feel when I see him happy with Alex. I like when I swim because when I float, I am free. I like when I sleep because I dance when I dream. I hear, I see, I taste, I smell, I feel, I dream.”

“I do have friends, but they don't know me, only someone I've created to take my place. Someone sculpted from ice. I keep the melted me bottled up inside. Where no one can touch her, until, unbidden, she comes pouring out.”

“I whisper and you close your eyes. I speak and you turn away. If I scream, will you finally hear me beg you to hold me close to you, promise you'll never let go?”

“The ones that rip my heart from my chest are the little ones. The children, with tangled hair and dirty clothes, covering their own ugly secrets. And all they ask of me is shelter, food to warm their hollowness, a bed free of nightmares.They look at me, and through me. And it's hard to tell who's more haunted-- them or me.”

“Being In LoveMeans hard questions. Will I? Won't I? Should I? Could I?Yes? No? You?Me? There is no mewithout you.Is there a you without me?And if were truly one.how will I breathewhen circomstance pries us apart?You are my oxygen.my substance,the blood inside my veins.When wetouch, you are my skin.hold all my joy inside of you.When you go, I wither.”