Zack

“A few folks say the man mumbles to himself all the while he’s doing whatever it is he’s doing. Keeping time, could be. If he notices anyone watching him, he tips his hat to them, then returns to his work. That gesture, that tip of the hat, bothers whoever’s on the receiving end of it. There’s mockery in the touch of hand to hat, not enough to be insulting, but more than enough to make a person self-conscious. There’s a kind of warning to it, too, as if the man is saying, “Okay, you’ve seen me: now run along.” There are few who see it who don’t leave off their viewing and go straight home.”
― John Langan, The Fisherman

“the raw dough of an infant shaping into a determined child.”
― Julia Phillips, Disappearing Earth

“She normally tries to avoid saying in which out loud, to minimize the number of people who find her insufferable.”
― Tess Gunty, The Rabbit Hutch

“overseers and bosses had increased their scrutiny and would be extra vigilant on the full moon, the white beacon that so often agitated the slave with a mind to run.”
― Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad