“Well? Is it true? Did she?""Did she what?""You know. Fall outta the crazy tree and hit every branch on the way down?”

“Hey Rid?"She stopped and turned to look at him, almost ruefully. Like she couldn't help what she was any more then a shark could help being a shark, but if she could..."Yeah, Shrinky Dink?""You're not all bad."She looked right at him and almost smiled. "You know what they say. Maybe I'm just drawn that way.”

“What did you do to Amma?""I was late to school." He studied my face. I studied his."Number 2?" I nodded. "Sharp?""Started out sharp and then she sharpened it.”

“I said it, just like that. No stupid jokes, no changing the subject. For once, I wasn't embarrassed, because it was the truth. I had fallen. I think I had always been falling. And she might as well know, if she didn't already, because there was no going back now. Not for me.”

“I needed to know what thread to pull. I needed to be the one who knew the right direction. She couldn't see her way clear of where she was right now, so it had to be me.”

“Because when every day is the End of Days, after a while they feel pretty much like every other day, even though you know that's crazy. And nothing is the same.”

“Just as I lay back, she sat up. I sat up, and she flopped back down. Awkward. That was my every move when it came to her. Now we were both lying down, staring up at the blue sky.”