Ashwinee

“If you don’t know why you’re apologizing, your apology probably sucks.”
― Holly Black, Black Heart

“Imagine yourself taking a stroll through Manhattan, somewhere north of 68th street, deep inside Central Park, late at night. It would be nice to meet someone friendly, but you know that the park is dangerous at night. That's when the monsters come out. There's always a strong undercurrent of drug dealings, muggings, and occasional homicides.

It is not easy to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys. They dress alike, and the weapons are concealed. The only difference is intent, and you can't read minds.

Stay in the dark long enough and you may hear an occasional distance shriek or blunder across a body.

How do you survive the night? The last thing you want to do is shout, "I'm here!" The next to last thing you want to do is reply to someone who shouts, "I'm a friend!"

What you would like to do is find a policeman, or get out of the park. But you don't want to make noise or move towards a light where you might be spotted, and it is difficult to find either a policeman or your way out without making yourself known. Your safest option is to hunker down and wait for daylight, then safely walk out.

There are, of course, a few obvious differences between Central Park and the universe.

There is no policeman.

There is no way out.

And the night never ends.”
― Charles Pellegrino, The Killing Star

“Names etched on the head of a pin, one
name spanning a bridge, another undergoing a tunnel. A blue name needled into the skin, names of citizens, workers, mothers and fathers, the bright-eyed daughter, the quick son; alphabet of names in a green field, names in the small tracks of birds, names lifted from a hat or balanced on the tip of the tongue, names wheeled into the dim warehouse of memory. So many names, there is barely room on the walls of the heart.”
― Billy Collins

“I'm not really sorry. But I'm not absolutely unsorry.”
― John Fowles, The Collector