Melissa

“You've got the look of a girl who's no stranger to the page. I can tell. You've got words in your soul.”
― Jay Kristoff, Nevernight

“The only lies for which we are truly punished are those we tell ourselves.”
― V. S. Naipaul, In a Free State

“I can’t lose the thing I’ve held onto for so long, you know?” My face twists up from the pain of pushing it out. “I just really need it to be a love story, you know? I really, really need it to be that.”
“I know,” she says.
“Because if it isn’t a love story, then what is it”? I look to her glassy eyes, her face of wide open empathy. “It’s my life,” I say. “This has been my whole life.”
― Kate Elizabeth Russell, My Dark Vanessa

“Every life has death and every light has shadow. Be content to stand in the light and let the shadow fall where it will.”
― Mary Stewart, The Hollow Hills