“It was the oldest sound there was. Souls flying away.”

“At night I would lie in bed and watch the show, how bees squeezed through the cracks of my bedroom wall and flew circles around the room, making that propeller sound, a high-pitched zzzzzz that hummed along my skin. I watched their wings shining like bits of chrome in the dark and felt the longing build in my chest. The way those bees flew, not even looking for a flower, just flying for the feel of the wind, split my heart down its seam.”

“As I walked, I began to hear the sound of running water. It's impossible to hear that sound and not go searching for the source.”

“You put his brain in a bird, the bird would fly backwards" -Secret Life of the Bees”

“It was the first time I'd ever said the words to another person, and the sound of them broke open my heart.”

“It was respect she had for feelings, how she believed it was inimical to the soul to deny them.”

“I now understand that writing fiction was a seed planted in my soul, though I would not be ready to grow that seed for a long time.”