“You have to stop and freeze the moment," he told me I had told her. "You have to make yourself remember by repeating it in your head over and over. You have to write to preserve your sanity.”

“You are on my side," she says."What side is that?" I ask."The winning side," she says, and smiles. "The team of the artists.""Who are we playing?""The barbarians," she says. "We are always playing ...”

“Until it has scared you with its endlessness, sky is just sky.”

“Zachary smiles, and I wonder if he's felling different. Because standing out here waist deep in Gossimer Lake, next to my best friend, I'm feeling different-light and good and maybe even holy.”

“Don't make me sit through reality.”

“My wishing star glowed slightly and winked back at me. I could almost hear its voice, tinkling like wind chimes and church bells, reassuring me that everything would return to normal.”

“I am the perfect version of me.”

“But if you tame me, then weshall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, Ishall be unique in all the world.”

“I don't want the world to keep turning without me on it.”

“Smartass Disciple: My master, please show me how to be a wise man!Master of Stupidity: I can't. But I can show you how to do something wisely.”

“Smartass Disciple: My master, please show me how to be a wise man!Master of Stupidity: I can't. But I can show you how to do something wisely.”