“Geordie wrote a letter to Mr. Webster in which the shrieking figure of Apology was hounded through a labyrinth of agonized syntax.”

“I'm sorry for the randomness of what I wrote, Mr. Oswald. There's been a lot to absorb.'Without looking up, he says, 'Never apologize for writing your truth, Mr. Fink. There are no right or wrong answers.”

“And I wrote my way out of the labyrinth.”

“In the haunted shade of the Ateneo, her hands wrote a curse on my skin that was to hound me for years.”

“I wrote a huge number of letters that spring: one a week to Naoko, several to Reiko, and several more to Midori. I wrote letters in the classroom, I wrote letters at my desk at home with Seagull in my lap, I wrote letters at empty tables during my breaks at the Italian restaurant. It was as if I were writing letters to hold together the pieces of my crumbling life.”

“And I don't know if Batty's gotten over it yet,' said Skye.Mr. Penderwick looked out the window to where Batty was playing vampires with Hound. Hound was on his back, trying to wiggle out of the black towel Batty had tied around his neck. Batty was leaping over Hound's water bowl, shrieking, 'Blood, blood!''She looks all right,' he said.”