Samella Bullis

“Helen slowly became aware of an unnerving red light. She lifted her head and looked around. The glow bounced off the cold stone walls and intensified quickly. It filled her with thoughts of despair and hopelessness. She tried to shake them off.
You have what’s mine! Where is it? I want it!
Helen shuddered violently. She recalled the inner voice that urged
her to use the stone to keep Prince Harnak from dying. That voice was
comforting and encouraging. This voice was oppressive and angry and
beat on her relentlessly.
“No!” she muttered. “Go away. I have nothing for you or anyone
else, not even me.”
The red light flickered out. Only the numbing cold and her utter
isolation, cheerless companions, remained.”
― Candace L. Talmadge, Stoneslayer: Book One Scandal

“Holding to each other
we burn back the pressing dark
with the fire we've tended,
alone together beside the river,
quiet as the trees.”
― Don Hynes, Something Will Change Me: Poems of Hope, Healing, and Personal Transformation

“The stars are honest and sensible. But humanity is insane!”
― Lloyd C. Douglas

“Sometimes truths are what we run from, and sometimes they are what we seek.”
― R.D. Ronald, The Elephant Tree