Hope Spot Quotes

“From the center of each pillar, a figure pulled away as if trying to escape mud. They were still covered in rock, but it was a thinner layer, enough to keep them trapped but not to hide their shape. The rock only retreated fully from their faces, letting them open their eyes, open their mouths. They did not scream, even though the horror in their eyes made it clear it was all they wanted in the whole world.
Each of these pillars was a person.
I saw the way their eyes rolled in mad terror — the panic and despair as they were allowed to see freedom, if just for a moment — while they sang for the Old Man's pleasure. The worst thing was how glorious they sounded: they were a perfect sunrise, a walk through a well-tended garden in spring, the laughter of someone you love. I could have listened to them for hours if I didn't understand the atrocity that had been committed to capture that sound.”
― Jenn Lyons, The Ruin of Kings