They Turned A Distracted Gaze On The

He'd Kept This Silence Because His Own Secrets Were Darker, More Hidden, And Because He Believed That His Secrets Had Created Hers.

Norah Watched Him, Serious And Utterly Absorbed In His Task, Overcome By The Simple Fact Of His Existence.

Grief, It Seemed, Was A Physical Place.

It Seemed There Was No End At All To The Lies A Person Could Tell, Once She Got Started.

He Fished In His Pocket For His Keys And Instead Pulled Out The Last Geode, Gray And Smooth, Earth-shaped. He Held It, Warming In His Palm, Thinking Of All Mysteries The World Contained: Layers Of Stone, Concealed Beneath The Flesh Of Earth And Grass; These Dull Rocks, With Their Glimmering Hidden Hearts.