“Sure I arn't a cabbage, that if you pull it out of the ground it must die.”

“Every atom in me feels composed of lead. This is what dying is: a pull to the ground.”

“Do you give up?" Shezmu bellowed."No!" I yelled. "No, we don't give up. We will name you. Just . . . Gosh, you're quite well muscled, arn't you? Do you work out?”

“I never think of stories as made things; I think of them as found things. As if you pull them out of the ground, and you just pick them up.”

“And you've got that look on your face again." "I can't help it, "Ehren said. "You're about to walk to breakfast, arn't you, regardless of who is in the way?" "Yes," Tavi said. Ehren sighed. "Let's hear it." Tavi told him the plan. "That's insane," Ehren said. "It could work." "You arn't going to have anyone come along to bail you out this time," Ehren pointed out. Tavi grinned. "Are you with me?" "The plan is insane," Ehren said. "You are insane." He looked around inside the tent. "I'll need some pants.”

“Once the world was pulled out from beneath your feet, did you ever get to stand on firm ground again?”