Six years old and very much alone, Ileri wandered the old stone mansion's inner garden. Its cobblestone path ran between rows of red and yellow flowers, separated by hedges as tall as the average man. They towered over the girl and the mint green frills of her dress, but she paid them no mind, staring instead at the curls of the petals and pausing whenever she found a perfect bloom. Her straight black hair was bound up in a shining tail that chased her around the corners, settling against her back when she stood still, and eyes just as black and just as shiny eventually led her to a lovely, full flower along the east wall. It was a bit darker

"You're not supposed to be here, you know," Emelie told her brother. It might've been a scolding if she hadn't sounded so indifferent about it. Kiel shrugged, and the shrug turned into a stretch, and the stretch ended in a lazy roll onto his back. He then turned over and crushed himself into the dark leather of his older sister's couch. "Too tired. Don't care," he managed in a faint voice, almost entirely blocked by the silky red throw pillow. Emelie crossed her arms, tilting her head up to keep valentine-red hair from being trapped between them. Her hair was long and straight, and almost as bright as her lipstick. "Going to sleep here, the

From A Brief Report on the Society and Lifestyles of Humans, Section B-1 Human society is, as is typical, built on understanding. This is unfortunate, because the Human mind is not made to understand. Their capacity for comprehension is on par with our own, as previously discussed, but the communication of ideas – emotions, especially – poses a unique challenge to this race of disconnected beings. The telepathic network on which we rely is utterly absent in this race. (Further studies may offer some insight into those of our number born detached.) They are forever misunderstanding one another, forever out of touch with each other'

Apartments loomed over Aileen Sedgwick's little yellow house. Aileen stepped outside with shoulders drawn in and eyes upturned, closing the door quietly behind her. Her boots did not crunch through the two inches of snow before them. In fact, her steps were barely audible, she carried herself so carefully. The white sky dropped more snow to fill her footprints, slipping flakes between bare branches and past her long, black hair. The sidewalk was visible only by its outline, and she kept obediently to it. The trees along it scratched at one another with every passing breeze. The fog of her breathing trailed along behind her until the path met

Larissa was in a wide field of pale grass. The sun was glowing above in a sky of translucent clouds, or perhaps there was just a light fog. Delicate little flowers were growing here and there, trimming the green. Most were white, but a few were purple or blue. The grass was rather tall, though not too much to walk in, and made a nice cushion when Larissa sank down onto it. She put a finger alongside the stem of a blue flower and pulled it towards her just a bit, turning its face toward hers. The haze of the place made it so easy to lose oneself, so easy to be absorbed by the world. She thought idly of how the flower's little stem was like her

I'll have you know that you're a monster, Pouring venom out like that. Words like yours are why the world's this way. I'll bite my tongue and take one more step back. I'll have you know that not all teenagers Are rebels, or defiled. I'm living proof - one truly can behave. I'll bite my tongue and take one more step back. I'll have you know that that's not love - The aching and the crying. You're stupid and you brought this on yourself. I'll bite my tongue and take one more step back. I'll have you know that yes, I do believe In God and in the Bible. And guess what? It's not because I have no brain. I'll bite my tongue and take