“It's like pretending to be Santa and then stabbing someone with a candy cane!”

“I had a dream about candy canes and dolphins.”

“Hey what's your name""Candi." She's hesitant, like that beaten dog Jade mentioned. "Candi Woodward.""I'm Ayla Monroe."She laughs uneasily. "I know.""Out, Candi Cane," Jane orders.”

“Like Santa Claus. You adults pretend he doesn't exist, but we know that he really does.”

“When someone stabs you it's not your fault that you feel pain.”

“Tapping a little bell, I leaned on the desk and turned to look at a small, traditionally decorated Christmas tree on a table near the entranceway. It was complete with shiny, egg-fragile bulbs; miniature candy canes; flat, laughing Santas with arms wide; a star on top nodding awkwardly against the delicate shoulder of an upper branch; and colored lights that bloomed out of flower-shaped sockets. For some reason this seemed to me a sorry little piece.”