“Laura wanted all of it back, every moment, so that she could live it all over again.”

“Laura was going to sew herself into the shape of happiness all on her own.”

“...all she wanted was a button she could push to pause her age, just for a little while, a few years, while she got used to the idea.”

“... She might have thought that it was the case, that all things worked out in the end, and that the world was a benevolent place, but she knew better now, and had to fake it.”

“Even if she wasn't happy on the inside, the outside could be something else entirely. There was always another character to play.”

“She wanted the world to stop and take notice before hobbling forward, forever changed. The problem was that no one seemed to be changed but her.”

“... She was as beautiful and lost as a landlocked mermaid.”