“She left her keys in the teeth of the lock where they would dangle all day.”

“She turned back to the door fishing her key out of her purse. Once the key was in the lock, the door flew open revealing darkness. All she had time for was a squeak before she was abruptly pulled in the house by her shirt. The door slammed shut and locked behind her with a clank of sliding metal.”

“What are these?”Meg looked at the rings of keys in Nate’s hand, deliberately furrowed her brow. “Those would be keys.”“Why do you need so many keys?”“Because there are so many locks? Is this a quiz?”He jingled them in his palm while she continued to give him a sunny, innocent smile. “Meg, you don’t even lock your doors half the time. What are all these keys about?”“Well… There are times a person needs to get into a place, and hey, that place is locked. Then she would need a key.”“And this place that, hey, is locked, wouldn’t be the property of that person. Would that be correct?”“Techincally. But no man is an island, and it takes a village, and so on. We’re all one in the Zen universe.”“So these would be Zen keys?”“Exactly. Give them back.”“I don’t think so.” He closed his fist around them. “You see, even in the Zen universe I’d hate to arrest my wife for unlawful entry.”“I’m not your wife yet, buddy. Did you have a search warrant for those?”“They were in plain sight. No warrant necessary.”“Gestapo.”“Delinquent.”

“She wasn’t crying at all. This was what scared him the most. Where had she locked up the things he’d seen her feeling that day when she heard? She wasn’t that big a girl to hold all of it—to hold her brother’s life and his death inside of her. To hold all his long-limbed raging tidal motion and all the loss of that.”

“she decided no human man would ever touch her again. the doors to her body and heart were already locked, and she would give the key to only one man, perhaps someday...perhaps never...but all the same she didnt care about falling in love, or getting married, or any of that, anymore. it was too late for mortal men to stake any sort of claim to her affections. if she grews old and died alone, it would be in full posession of her heart.and if she ever gave it, she would give it eternally, and without regret.”

“Putting food under lock and key was one of the great innovations of your culture. No other culture in history has ever put food under lock and key - and putting it there is the cornerstone of your economy.[...] Because if the food wasn't under lock and key, Julie, who would work?”