Maggi Colunga

“My childhood had been so drastically different from what Natalie had undoubtedly experienced, and I couldn’t help the envy that came over me. Not to say that my childhood had been bad—it hadn’t. I was loved. Clothed. Fed. I’d seen many places, learned to take care of myself. But it had always felt as though I’d been cheated out of something everyone else tended to take for granted.”
― Heather Webber, Midnight at the Blackbird Café

“They were stained purple, and I suddenly had visions of turning fully purple, like Violet turned blue in the Willy Wonka movie.”
― Heather Webber, Midnight at the Blackbird Café

“I pulled up my quilt, tucking the worn fabric next to my face, and closed my eyes. I could hear the birders chattering loudly about the blackbirds. I fell asleep the same way I’d woken up that morning. To the sound of a ruckus outside my window.”
― Heather Webber, Midnight at the Blackbird Café

“Grief was a capricious companion. Sometimes distant and aloof. Sometimes so overwhelming it was hard to think a straight thought. Its mood changed at whim, making it emotionally exhausting to keep up.”
― Heather Webber, Midnight at the Blackbird Café