"The plants like to be sung to each morning. Paloma thinks, “It must remind them of the birds,” though there are no birds here and never were."

"We make the mistake, when we are young, of thinking the city is a dead thing."

"About two weeks after Lisa left to check in on her father, I remember waking up and thinking that the light outside was so clear and beautiful."

"Swaying back toward midnight, she focused on extricating herself from the dangerous last ten hours."