“I wasn't running now so much as stumbling quickly, panting like a geriatric lion.”

“There were no lions any more. There had been lions once. Sometimes in the shimmer of the heat on the plains the motion of their running still flickered on the dry wind — tawny, great, and quickly gone. Sometimes the honey-colored moon shivered to the silence of a ghost-roar on the rising air.”

“When I am attacked by gloomy thoughts, nothing helps me so much as running to my books. They quickly absorb me and banish the clouds from my mind.”

“When I am attacked by gloomy thoughts,nothing helps me so much as running to my books.They quickly absorb me and banish the clouds from my mind.”

“Where'd the dog go?" I ask, sounding panicky."That wasn't a dog, Zara," he says, words whisper strong.I jerk my head up. "What was it then? A cat? A gerbil? A geriatric hamster?”

“I whispered, taking advantage of her momentary distraction to try to adjust the front of my pants. If I had to run now, I’d be in big trouble.”