“I see an ocean that’s spilled out of a wineglass, its body clear and sparkling and folding over itself. I see a ribbon of sand.”

“This time as we ascend, I watch the world sinking below us. I watch the way the city fades into sand that gets washed by the ocean.”

“In the distance I see a lighthouse. The light washes over us and continues on its rotation. This time, I don't know where the light will guide us.”

“She was supposed to build sand castles on the beach and put her toes in the ocean,” Madame says.”

“Suddenly the clouds seem high above us. They’re moving over us in an arch, circling the planet. They have seen abysmal oceans and charred, scorched islands. They have seen how we destroyed the world. If I could see everything, as the clouds do, would I swirl around this remaining continent, still so full of color and life and seasons, wanting to protect it? Or would I just laugh at the futility of it all, and meander onward, down the earth’s sloping atmosphere?”

“I feel unburdened, and after a while I start to imagine that the divan is a boat moving over the ocean. Sunken cities play music beneath the waves. The ghosts are stirring.”

“I can almost see what Gabriel meant when he asked, 'What has the free world got that you can’t get here?'Almost.Freedom, Gabriel. That’s what you can’t get here.”