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1 " The average lifespan of the common octopus is less than a year. Even the big ones don't live any longer than five, which means that all of them die right after their kids are born. The don't pass a single thing on to the next generation- no memories, no culture. In a way, shouldn't humans feel lucky? "
― Carlie Sorosiak , Wild Blue Wonder
2 " My mother used to tell me that sometimes when a woman's in darkness, she doesn't need a goddamn flashlight. She needs another woman to stand in the dark by her side. "
3 " In books, boys smell of a variety of unrealistic things (unicorn dust, freshly chopped down pine trees, the motor oil of classic cars), but he’s so . . . familiar. Baking spices. Cologne. "
4 " Life isn't this infinite thing. "
5 " I thought you were going as something scary this year.” “Google ‘otter attack.’ They don’t mess around.” This—this right here—is why we’ve been best friends since she moved here from New Jersey in second grade. We initially bonded over Harry Potter, even though she’s a Hufflepuff and I’m a Slytherin. "
6 " I usually don’t mind the cold. Far from it. I was always first in the water during Winship’s annual Polar Plunge and have been known to make snow angels in my bathing suit. Mom says it’s because I’m half girl, half seal, "
7 " Not gonna lie, I also have a strong, strong desire to climb aboard ol’ Rexy and pretend I’m the Mother of Dragons, raining down on Westeros with my fiery wrath. But it just doesn’t seem like the time. "
8 " In his foyer, I kick off my boots and make my way to the kitchen—and it feels strange, how comfortable I am here, with Alexander. He keeps his coat on, and I can smell the winter all over him, like the snowflakes have soaked deep, deep in. "
9 " I chisel with frigid, numb hands. I scoop out crevices and corners, work over this spot and that spot again and again, dig out this disease that’s infecting everything. It’s the only way to begin. "
10 " I could sell some of them -- get a good chuck of change. But these were Grandpa's. In my mind, these are Grandpa's. All around us, this is my grief. And my grief fills the entire barn. "
11 " When I look back on that summer, this is how I want to remember her. This is how I want to remember us. Belting out a song in the middle of a storm. Gobbling up firecracker Popsicles beneath an orange sky. I want to remember picnics in the wildflower meadow and lounging in the sun-washed grass, fresh blueberries and sweating bottles of cool lemonade, snorting with laughter and then laughing some more, "
12 " Fern can walk out of a room like she’s slamming a door in your face. "
