“It happened like this, if it happened at all. I would rather go up to heaven by myself than be pushed by cherubs.”

“I wanted to play with death, like a child with a new toy, I wanted to push all the buttons and see what would happen.”

“If you look around to find meaning in everything that happens, you will end up disappointed. Sometimes there aren’t reasons behind the terrible things that go on. I ask myself, If I knew all the answers, would it help? I lie awake and wonder why I don’t have parents and wonder what will become of my brother and me. But when the morning comes, I realize that there’s nothing to be done about what has already happened. I can only get up and do my chores and push through the day and find the good in it.”

“Short stories do not say this happened and this happened and this happened. They are a microcosm and a magnification rather than a linear progression.”

“I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.”

“I would only blame myself if something happened to you.”