“I looked over at her face. I could see the light from my heartbeat on her tears.”

“A hundred hundred heartbeats..." whispered Sabriel, tears falling down her face.”

“Should i even bother scanning the crowd for my parents? I could turn around and go back to the dormitory. Then I see her. My mother stands alone near the railing with her hands clasped in front of her. she has never looked more out of place, with her gray slacks and gray jacket buttoned at the throat, her hair in its simple twist and her face placid. I start toward her, tears jumping into my eyes. She came. She came for me. I walk faster. She sees me, and for a second her expression is blank, like she doesn't know who I am. Then her eyes light up, and she opens her arms. She smells like soap and laundry detergent.”

“I could see my face, crying, in her blank eye.”

“I looked back towards them, to see if they were watching me, and saw her pulling her arm from his grip. Her eyes were closed and her hair was all over the places and her face was screwed up.”

“Her tear-streaked face is beautiful. I want to wipe away her tears. I want to take the last ten years and erase them. I want to start over.”