d11c236
|
But why not take pride in this country? It's the envy of the world. A place where any man can realize his dream. We, the dreamers, built this nation." "The Indians and slaves might disagree," Jericho shot back."
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indians
slaves
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Libba Bray |
249ab11
|
Okay. That's fair. Abso-tive-ly fair. Let's say the tables were turned. If I were about to walk off a cliff, what would you do?" Evie pursed her lips. "Push?" "I don't believe that." "You would on the way down."
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Libba Bray |
4429112
|
I have never felt more ridiculous. If this is what it means to be a woman I am not the slightest bit interested.
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Libba Bray |
567542c
|
In this man's smile was all the unfairness of the world in its thuggish seduction. "Just come with me. We'll take care of you." "No, you won't." Taylor stroked the man's cheek. She reached her arms up to cradle the back of his head and, with the skill of a champion, she broke his neck. Then she dragged him into the bushes, took his gun and walkie-talkie, and kept moving."
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Libba Bray |
422364c
|
Your mind is not a cage. It's a garden. And it requires cultivating.
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Libba Bray |
3228d08
|
Welcome to finishing school, Gemma. Learn to embroider, serve tea, curtsy. Oh, and by the way, you might be demolished in the night by a hideous winged creature from the roof.
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Libba Bray |
ba178fe
|
Why does anyone do anything? Belief. A belief that they are doing right and just in their actions.
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Libba Bray |
ad6c792
|
What happened to the winner" Adina asked. "She tripped." "And the first runner-up?" Miss Michigan cracked her knuckles. "She tripped, too."
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Libba Bray |
8b151c0
|
The only thing I don't divulge is the truth about Mother killing little Carolina. I don't know why. Perhaps I sense he's not ready to know that just yet. Maybe he never will. People can live with only so much honesty. And sometimes, people can suprise you. I talk to my brother as I never have before, trusting in him, letting the river listen to my confessions on its path toward the sea. ~pg 693
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Libba Bray |
1261b03
|
dreams were dreams and reality was reality and she felt people were better off understanding the difference.
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Libba Bray |
a94bbd4
|
Hot off the presses, today's headlines: The love of your life does not approve of my wanton flapper ways," Evie said in a voice of affected mystery. "Really, Mabesie. You might want to reconsider--he is a bit of a killjoy."
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Libba Bray |
0d4c2b8
|
On the Bowery, in the ornate carcass of a formerly grand vaudeville theater, a dance marathon limps along. The contestants, young girls and their fellas, hold one another up, determined to make their mark, to bite back at the dreams sold to them in newspaper advertisements and on the radio. They have sores on their feet but stars in their eyes.
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the-diviners
libba-bray
new-york
|
Libba Bray |
80674a2
|
That's it," Mabel said, getting up. She tossed her napkin on the table. "No. That is not right. I don't know what you just said, but whatever it was, I'm pretty certain it was pure hokum. I don't want to dance. I don't want to hear about your plans for a summer house. I am not your sister. And if I your sister, I'd have to tell people you'd been adopted as an act of charity. Please, don't get up."
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Libba Bray |
1d88d78
|
Discord need not be an impediment. Differences can bring strength.
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Libba Bray |
8abb633
|
But isn't that strange and wonderful unpredictability part of humanity? Aren't all of our differences what already make us a great nation?
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Libba Bray |
b789e92
|
She dances a little jig. "This would make one hell of a TV show, huh?" "Yeah. But no one would believe it." I should let it go. But it's like the hole, like the door, and I have to know. Or at least, I have to ask. "Hey, Dulcie, was any of that real?" She finishes her dance and the wings come to rest. "Who's to say what's real or not?" "Yeah, but--my barometer on reality, not so good since I started going crazy. "Yeah, well, who but the..
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people
life
crazy
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Libba Bray |
0c14ef9
|
Oh, I didn't think it wise to hide it. Might not be able to find it again," I say, cheerily. "It's sitting in plain view on your chair in the great hall. I do hope that was the best place for it."
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revenge
humor
gemma-doyle
libba-bray
|
Libba Bray |
0bfe5a7
|
Because I'm not enough, she thought. That was the terrible echo shouting up at her: Fraud, fraud, fraud. She got drunk and talked too much and danced on tables. She had a temper and a sharp tongue, and she often blurted out things she instantly regretted. Worst of all, she suspected that was who she truly was--not so much a bright young thing as a messy young thing.
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Libba Bray |
2669772
|
Didn't you have any sadistic nannies who told you these tales to keep you quiet and well behaved at night? Heavens, what's to become of the Empire if governesses have lost their touch for scaring the wits out of their girls?
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humor
bedtime-stories
governesses
miss-moore
libba-bray
|
Libba Bray |
c6ec285
|
I'm going to eviscerate you and leave your organs on a pike in the yard as a warning to those who wear large jewelry.
|
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humor
felicity-worthington
gemma-doyle
libba-bray
|
Libba Bray |
637c9a6
|
We're never prepared for how much we love our children, for how much we wish we could protect them by being perfect.
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Libba Bray |
65781b6
|
He's attracted to the smell of manure," Felicity says. "You might wallow in the stables to bring out the full flower of his love."
|
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humor
rebel-angels
libba-bray
|
Libba Bray |
1d8c927
|
New Maxi-Pad Pets. Accessories for your period. Brought to you by The Corporation: In your homes and in your pants.
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humour
libba-bray
|
Libba Bray |
6d1bb48
|
She's right. I don't trust her farther than I can run full-steam in a corset, but she's right. The truth is hard and unfair, but there it is.
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Libba Bray |
759a4c5
|
You evah hear of a magic screw?' I cough back a laugh. 'No. No, sir.
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Libba Bray |
f70c9f3
|
And please, stay away from those books you devour. They are putting the most fantastical tales into your head.
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Libba Bray |
e6cb0e4
|
For dreams, too, are ghosts, desires chased in sleep, gone by morning. The longing of dreams draws the dead, and this city holds many dreams.
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Libba Bray |
d5b76a9
|
I'm from the health department. You've heard of Typhoid Mary? This fella's got enough typhoid to start his own colony.
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Libba Bray |
f947d64
|
It was a kiss small in its ministrations but epic in its feeling.
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Libba Bray |
122954c
|
But if we are to remain a great empire, we must have a greater understanding of the hearts and minds of others.
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Libba Bray |
5de7d50
|
Petra turned to her. "Everybody lies about who they are. Name one person here who isn't doing that and I will drop out right now!" Shanti felt that snake of truth coil around her legs, threatening to squeeze. "I didn't mean..." "No one ever does." Petra said, shoving the baton back at Shanti." --
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truth
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Libba Bray |
90ce7e4
|
And if I talk too loud, its just that I'm trying to be heard.
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Libba Bray |
2b5f701
|
This is how it is now. There is strength in acceptance, Ling. Your legs have been taken from you. But how you choose to live with that has not.
|
|
ling-chan
libba-bray
|
Libba Bray |
578bdcc
|
Oh, honey, of course it hurts! Beauty is pain. But you don't want to look like a troll, do you?
|
|
pain
|
Libba Bray |
1202ec5
|
They see her differently now, as somebody. And isn't that what everyone wants? To be seen?
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Libba Bray |
f726c5e
|
You are absolute angels of the first order. If I were Pope, I'd canonize you." "The Pope would probably love to turn a cannon on you!"
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Libba Bray |
b8d1c04
|
Well, are you going to motivate people to bring peace to war-torn nations, or are you going to motivate people to join a cult and drink the Kool-Aid?
|
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Libba Bray |
4baf96e
|
You have been deceived. Spiritualism is no more a science than thievery. For that's all this is--very skilled dodgers stealing money from the bereaved for a little glint of hope. People see what they want to see when they need to.
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Libba Bray |
c27b47f
|
The glow dies down, and she's standing at the end of my bed--the one who's been following me around leaving feather messages. I take in the torn fishnets, plaid mini-kilt, shiny, riveted breastplate with leather straps at the sides and a worn Great Temolo decal near the left shoulder. Her wings are a crazy black-and-white-checkered pattern, like they've been spray-painted at a body shop to look like hipster sneakers.
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dulcie
punk-rock-angel
|
Libba Bray |
36eeab7
|
Felicity laughs and takes on the tone of a fashionable lady. "Darling, the Bryn-Joneses have just done the most marvelous thing in their parlor with human blood. We simply must have ours done straightaway!"
|
|
humor
felicity-worthington
libba-bray
|
Libba Bray |
840dc06
|
Careful there, Poet. I might start to believe you.
|
|
the-diviners
poet
|
Libba Bray |
d64f44f
|
Sam smirked. "You have a favorite ?" " got a favorite speakeasy, don'tcha?" Memphis shot back."
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Libba Bray |
d9e950d
|
People are..." Mabel wheezed. "Mostly good, you..." Wheeze. "Know? Mostly." She tried to take a breath. It was hard. Like breathing through layers of gauze. Where were her parents? She loved them so. "Mostly. I believe that with..." A bloody cough tore through Mabel's lungs. "... With all my... all my heart."
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Libba Bray |
1fededb
|
I mean that she was complicated. Everybody is," Ling said quietly. "Don't erase her like that. She deserves better."
|
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mabel-rose
|
Libba Bray |