“In every drop of water, gust of air, speck of earth, and crackle of lightning, she hears the same thing: This world is alive. And it loves her. A little while later, the storm notices that Jael has fallen asleep. The rain tapers off. The clouds sneak away like they're trying not to wake her. The wind caresses her cheek one last time, then disperses in all directions. It carries with it the memory of this funny girl with the sad green eyes. And it carries with it a little bit of hope that things might change. That the world might become what it was supposed to be.”

“Jael" It still gives her a strange shiver when he says her name. Like she can almost get a sense of the person he believes she's capable of becoming. A person who deserves an exotic name spoken with reverence. But now he looks a little sad. "If all you ever do is try to avoid pain, you'll never create something truly worthwhile.”

“Oh my God, I can totally see it," says Britt. She scrunches her face into a frown and glares at herself in the mirror. "Jael ... ," she says, in a pretty good imitation of Jael's father's flat, gruff voice. "Jael, money is tight. Do you really need these things?""No, you're right, Dad," says Jael in a chipper, squeaky voice. "It's actually really convenient that I can store all my pens and pencils in my hair. In fact, you know what? I'll just grow my hair a little longer so you don't even have to get me folders this year!”

“Are you sure you're okay?" she asks. "Should I call 911 or something?""I'm totally fine," says Rob. "It's going to take a little while to recover, I think. It was like ... an orgasm... times a hundred." He sighs again, and continues to lie on the table."Really?" says Jael. "Like a ..." she isn't sure how she feels about that at all.”

“Her skin is slowly peeled from her body. She knows something low and guttural must be coming out of her mouth, She can feel it ripping its way out of her lungs and past her throat. But she can't hear it because there is a roar in her veins like a hurricane. A bright, pure light pierces her, fixes her on a single point of space and time, and she is screaming still, though not from pain, but from fear and wonder. Like she's just been born.”

“I just feel like we understood each other.""Oh," says Rob, and nods kind of stiffly."Wait," says Jael. "Are you, like, jealous of a telepathic ram?”

“Sure it is, but global warming isn't the death of the Earth. It's the death of humanity. It's more like the Earth's way of evicting mortals because they've been lousy tenants. Just because the Earth isn't habitable doesn't means it's dead. Just not in the mood for guests and freeloaders.”