~When she got to Esther, there was the old pain, lying like a slender steel instrument accidentally left behind after surgery, somewhere between her throat and her belly.~

~Thalia knew right away that the Swedish girl would be like a deep breath in before a dive underwater, the last of which you expelled seconds before you surfaced.

~The house was silent, except for the faint buzz of electrical things. She felt like she was living with appliances now, instead of people.~

~She had realised then that if she stay in that room, if she looked any longer, she would not make photographs.~

~[S]he'd wondered whether it was normal to make excuses for one's parent.~

~He dropped loose coins from his pockets, as though he needed a trail to find his way back to his room.~

~Falling is a mix of knowing and not knowing.~