“We were meant to be together.”

“Gwen?" "Yes.""You know why we have to be together, don't you?""...""I'm your selkie.”

“It's true that the two halves were no longer hinged. They weren't clinging to each other, but each was a cream-colored wing with a rosy flush inside. I held one half in each hand. If I took this shell across the room or across the universe, and the other one stayed here, they'd still be two halves of a whole, and anyone would know they belonged together.”

“As if I were a dog, to follow at your heels.”

“And there was no way to unsay words you'd blurted out, no matter how sorry you were.”

“Listen twice as much as you talk, since you were born with two ears and one mouth.”

“I was doing it again, and I do NOT ogle strangers.”