...

I have always liked the time before dawn because there's no one around to remind me who I'm supposed to be. So it's easier to remember who I am.

If you hold onto the handle, she said, it's easier to maintain the illusion of control. But it's more fun if you just let the wind carry you.

She said she usually cried at least once each day not because she was sad, but because the world was so beautiful and life was so short.

I used to wait for a sign, she said, before I did anything. Then one night I had a dream and an angel in black tights came to me and said, you can start any time now. And then I said is this a sign? And the angel started laughing and I woke up. Now, I think the whole world is filled with signs but if there's no laughter, I know they're not for me.

Everything changed the day she figured out there was exactly enough time for the important things in her life.

We lay there and looked up at the night sky and she told me about stars called blue squares and red swirls and I told her I'd never heard of them..Of course not, she said, the really important stuff they never tell you. You have to imagine it on your own.

In my dream, the angel shrugged and said, if we fail this time, it will be a failure of imagination. And then she placed the world gently in the palm of my hand.