“while I am alive, I intend to live" -- Everett Ruess to his friend Bill, Mar 9, 1931 (Everett Ruess: A Vagabond for Beauty, 31)”

“While I am alive, I intend to live. (Everett Ruess to his friend Bill, Mar 9, 1931, p 31)”

“...while I am alive, I intend to live.”

“Not want you?” His voice was rough. “Everett, I'd lay you down right now in this thin blanket of snow and take you.” Everett's eyes widened, but Alex's mind was racing, the images coming at him too quick for him to hold them back. “The cold air would touch you and then my mouth.” He moved back into Everett's space, and Everett groaned. “My hands. Naked, Everett. I could bite your long limbs and lick the grace from your words and shock the neighbors with what obscenities I'd drive from your lips.”

“All the while, Everett felt both the threat of disorder and the steady, thrumming promise of having everything he wanted, all at once.”

“You just think we live in a free country, Everett. We are at the mercy of greed and the selfish pursuit of wealth.”