“It’s disgusting. They melted my girl down and poured her into their mold. And this perversion is what she cooled into. I can’t be near her. Can’t see her, smell her, hear her voice chirping like a bird.I tell her the same thing I’ve been whispering every night on the roof. “I’m sorry. It’s my fault.”

“But I can’t leave, not yet. I’ll stay with her until sunrise. If I brace my feet, I won’t slide. I can rest my cheek on the roof tile and still see her. Pacing. Pulling her hair. “I’ll fix you,” I tell her. “I promise.” Even though I don’t know how.It’s better than good-bye.”

“I run my hands down her bare arms. Shoulders to elbows to wrists. She has goose bumps, even in the muggy Florida night. Maybe that’s because of me.Sometimes I forget she likes me the same way I like her.”

“You have points on the tip of your ears." she tilts her head and stares at me." like a big, tall elf.”

“We don’t talk; it’s family night, not miracle night.”

“she drew me. But not who I see in the mirror. Nia saw the Oscar i keep hidden. And she put him on paper. Nobody sees the real me.”

“In a few minutes nobody will know what I did. Everything will be perfect again. Except for my life.[Oscar Banks]”