1
At each step there is a small moment of transformation that cannot be overlooked or rushed. And these moments should not be, because they are beautiful.Anne Ursu
2
Oscar did not know what he was supposed to be feeling right now, what all the adults behind him would be expecting him to feel. He did not even know what he was, in fact, feeling. Except, whatever it was, it was a lot. Too much. More than bodies could hold.Anne Ursu
3
He's gone now. He did something terrible, but...he did good things, too. And he kept us well. And it's all right if you are sad.Anne Ursu
4
This was not [him]. It was a thing, with all the [him]-ness gone from it. Death takes the person and leaves his shell behind, like a hollowed-out tree.Anne Ursu
5
Someone who thinks of possessing a fountain made of a winged baby with water shooting out of its mouth must not have too many troubles.Anne Ursu
6
Hugging himself, Oscar leaned against the pantry wall. For two days all he had wanted was for Caleb to come back, and now he was back and Oscar had made a mess of things: he had angered half the customers and confused the other half, and the coin boxes did not look as they should, and [rich, noble] people were complaining about him, and he couldn't look at anybody, and [redacted] was dead, and Oscar was odd.' What if he doesn't keep me? .Anne Ursu
7
It was a beautiful lie that they had all been telling themselves–that you could have magic without monsters.Anne Ursu
8
Something rose in Oscar's chest, like a flower blossoming all at once. It grew until it filled him and threatened to spill over everywhere. The words [he] spoke touched a longing so deep Oscar hadn't even known it was there.Anne Ursu
9
Oscar leaned in, eyes wide. 'He's keeping me, ' he whispered to the kitten. Pebble chirped. Oscar's eyes flicked to the books underneath his bed. They called out to him: Misfit. Orphan. Idiot.Oscar coughed and shifted his eyes back to Pebble. 'He thinks I can work the shop.. He said he knew I could do it.' Wolf: He didn't see you work the shop. He doesn't know. Just wait until he hears.' He wants me to do the best I can.' Wolf: If only he knew how bad that was. He'll know soon. Oscar clenched his hands into fists and squeezed his eyes shut.. 'I'm not going to disappoint him, ' Oscar said. He repeated himself once more, in case the words themselves had any power. 'I'm not. .Anne Ursu
10
The words kept coming and he could not stop them, not while Callie was standing there so indecipherably, and so he was going to keep talking until he used up all the words there were and then no one would be able to talk to anyone else anymore and then all anyone would have left were one another's unintelligible faces, and maybe some weird gesturing, too, and it would be all Oscar's fault.Anne Ursu
11
He could still escape–the fear was in front of him, and all he had to do was wrench free and run in the other direction. But he kept walking forward, straight into its embrace.Anne Ursu
12
There are ways to do things, ways to act with people, and I do not understand them. I cannot understand what people mean when they talk. I do not do things right. I do not feel things right. I do not see things right. I am not.. I'm not made of the same thing as everyone else.' The baker took in a deep breath. 'I think if you'll look around, my boy, ' he said gently, 'you'll find that no one is quite right. But we all do the best we can.Anne Ursu
13
They said words they did not mean, and their conversations seemed to follow all kinds of rules–rules that no one has ever explained to Oscar.Anne Ursu