Rufus

“Was there something … something evil …getting at Hugo? This bizarre and unwelcome thought surfaced in his mind. Were demons and evil spirits only to be found in the bible stories, or maybe this was some sort of challenge to him to deal with without help from anyone, least of all from the One who he constantly questioned and tried to understand …”
― Elizabeth Tebby Germaine, A MAN WHO SEEMED REAL: A story of love, lies, fear and kindness

“How was he murdered?”
“Asphyxiated.”
“Can you elaborate?”
“I can, but it’s rather gruesome.”
“I’m a private investigator, Mr. Kingsley. I’ve seen plenty of gruesome.”
― Behcet Kaya, Uncanny Alliance

“So, you know that group up there in the Planetarium then?’ The pistol continued. ‘Hey they say it’s a small world.’
     ‘Are they alright?’ asked Semilla darting forward.
     ‘Yeah, they’re all fine, apart from the President he’s rather dead actually, oh and one of the lampposts I’m afraid he copped it too.’
     Baz’s beacon flickered with emotion. ‘Which one?’ he asked.
     ‘There was only one President as far as I know,’ said the pistol indifferently.”
― A.R. Merrydew, Our Blue Orange

“Anthropocentric as [the gardener] may be, he recognizes that he is dependent for his health and survival on many other forms of life, so he is careful to take their interests into account in whatever he does. He is in fact a wilderness advocate of a certain kind. It is when he respects and nurtures the wilderness of his soil and his plants that his garden seems to flourish most. Wildness, he has found, resides not only out there, but right here: in his soil, in his plants, even in himself...
But wildness is more a quality than a place, and though humans can't manufacture it, they can nourish and husband it...
The gardener cultivates wildness, but he does so carefully and respectfully, in full recognition of its mystery.”
― Michael Pollan, Second Nature: A Gardener's Education