“I thought I’d learn a few new words, but the men were too shocked to even swear this time.”

“No. Wait. I . . . wait."Damen stopped, and turned. Laurent'sgaze was edged with indecipherableemotion, and his jaw was setat a new angle. The silence stretched outfor such a long time that the words, whenthey came, were a shock.”

“In my memories it was always December. December became another word for home to me. Then there were other times when I would swear the past almost had a personality. At those times I thought of it as Nostalgia. Nostalgia is the only friend that stays with you forever.”

“I like words. And I always learn a few new ones when Father gets angry. I shouldn't neglect my education, now should I?”

“The plague spread and moved on. In the whole world only a few people were able to save themselves: the pure and the chosen, predestined to begin a new race of men and a new life, to renew and purify the earth; but these people were not seen anywhere by anybody, and nobody heard their voices or their words.”

“If I were silent and invisible, I’d fear nobody. And if I were tasteless too, not even the cannibals or modern art critics would touch me.”