Janene Ballesterous

“The mountains she’d viewed in childhood as nurturing have now taken on a menacing quality. Their stippled surfaces—the dark of trees rising from a background of white—give the impression of something more mythic than geological. Leviathans hibernating in the open, ready to stir at any moment and swallow her whole.”
― Hank Quense, The King Who Disappeared

“I have been bent and broken but I hope into better shape.”
― Abraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water

“wondering at what point rational fear of contagion turned to unreasoning dread,”
― Alan Brennert, Moloka'i

“Sitting down on the bed, my mind went blank again. I laid my head on the pillow and closed my eyes. Dad is dead. My father is dead and I will never be able to talk to him again. I opened my eyes and checked the time. Almost 6am.”
― Behcet Kaya, Body In The Woods