“He went on to say that if the Wicked Queen were around today, the whole story might have been different, because she would have looked in her Magic Mirror and said, "If I got a little laser work around the jaw and eyelids, I might still be considered the Fairest in the Land.”

“She gave me this look – she might have been watching from a lifeboat as the ship went down. Or maybe it was the other way around.”

“Shh," he said. "Look.""Where?""Can't you see'um?" he whispered. "All the Terabithians standing on tiptoe to see you.""Me?""Shh, yes. There's a rumor going around that the beautiful girl arrving today might be the queen they've been waiting for.”

“Right." He smiled bitterly. "Well, look around. Just look. Have you ever considered the possibility that God might be insane?”

“How did you fare with the Queen?" he asked."I have no idea," I said honestly. "Everything she said was perfectly nice, but the whole time she was looking at me as if I were something her dog spit up.”

“A story went around that someone had asked Mozart how he intended to refute his detractors."I will refute them with new works," he said.It was a confident, valiant thing for him to say, everyone thought. I thought so too, when I invented the story; and I still believe it today. (172)”