If he would see me again, I would die happy. In the meantime, I was merely dying.

Maybe he would see me as weak and stupid. Maybe he was right.

I want you to say it, so I know you'll never forget. I want to hear you say my name.

For the first time in ages I felt a tiny pinprick in my heart--not like it was breaking, but like something small and unseen had begun sewing it closed again.

You're too young to be so old.

It felt terrific. It felt deeper and richer than laughter. It felt like opening a door and tumbling headfirst into a pile of feathers.

You're not a nuthatch, Laurie.""Oh, but I am. I'm totally upside down. I'm a very backward kind of guy.

This Byrd wants a Wren.

For a moment, I felt like myself again. Not the new me, not the old me, just the real me.