“It's not how we fall. It's how we get back up again.”

“I think maybe everyone falls... I think the asking is whether we get back up again.”

“As to how you'll help me," he says. "Well, we have met the Answer, have we not?" He turns back to look at us, his eyes glinting. "It's time for them to meet the Ask.”

“We all fall but that's not what matters. What matters is picking yourself up again.”

“This is how we are protecting you, by getting you out.”

“Flakes of white fall thru the trees and onto the road, catching on our clothes and hair. It's a silent fall and it's weird how it makes everything else seem quiet, too, like it's trying to tell you a secret, a terrible, terrible secret.”

“Here's what I think," I say and my voice is stronger and thoughts are coming, thoughts that trickle into my noise like whispers of truth. "I think maybe everybody falls," I say. "I think maybe we all do. And I don't think that's the asking." I pull on her arms gently to make sure she's listening."I think the asking is whether we get back up again.”