“The crimson leaf that blew past looked the twin of the one she'd picked up in the palace courtyard: a bloodied hand.”

“Plato asked Socrates what is love...Socrates: Go into the field and get me the most special leaf...Plato returned with no leaf at handsaid: I found the most beautiful leaf in the field but I didn't pick it up for I might find a better one, but when I returned to the place, it was gone... Socrates: We always look for the best in life. When we finally see it, we take it for granted and expecting a better one... NOT KNOWING IT WAS THE BEST AND LAST!!!”

“Never look down on anyone unless you're looking down to offer your hand to help pick them up.”

“Jonas, stop doing that!""What? Helping you?" He picked up the knife she'd dropped and handed it to her."No, popping out of thin air."Jonas smiled at her then. A huge grin, and shook his head. Then gave one quick nod, turned and was gone.”

“Sprawled, bloody, holding the pistol, he looked like a police photograph of a suicide. Dart went back to his chair and picked up the Smith and Wesson. Five minutes passed like a year.”

“She had come out tonight because she believed there had to be a present tense, somewhere, and she'd followed Gav and Barnesy because she'd hoped they knew where it was. Is. And they'd dragged her to yet another haunted house. Where was the now? In bloody America, probably, apart from the bit that Tucker lived in, or in bloody Tokyo. In any case, it was somewhere else. How could people who didn't live in bloody America or bloody Tokyo stand it, all that swimming around in the past imperfect?”