“
I've found that there is always some beauty left -- in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you.
”
”
Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl)
“
I'm not a concept. Too many guys think I'm a concept or I complete them or I'm going to 'make them alive'…but I'm just a fucked up girl who's looking for my own peace of mind. Don't assign me yours.
”
”
Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: The Shooting Script)
“
As long as this exists, this sunshine and this cloudless sky, and as long as I can enjoy it, how can I be sad?
”
”
Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl)
“
A boy may be as disagreeable as he pleases, but when a girl refuses to crap sunshine on command, the world mutters darkly about her moods.
”
”
Scott Lynch (The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard, #3))
“
You know I'm old in some ways-in others-well, I'm just a little girl. I like sunshine and pretty things and cheerfulness-and I dread responsibility.
”
”
F. Scott Fitzgerald (This Side of Paradise)
“
Karou wished she could be the kind of girl who was complete unto herself, comfortable in solitude, serene. But she wasn't. She was lonely, and she feared the missingness within her as if it might expand and... cancel her. She craved a presence beside her, solid. Fingertips light at the nape of her neck and a voice meeting hers in the dark. Someone who would wait with an umbrella to walk her home in the rain, and smile like sunshine when he saw her coming. Who would dance with her on her balcony, keep his promises and know her secrets, and make a tiny world wherever he was, with just her and his arms and his whisper and her trust.
”
”
Laini Taylor (Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1))
“
He was not going to die. She was not a girl of ice and glass at all, but a girl of sunshine and stardust, because Jacin wasn’t going to die.
”
”
Marissa Meyer (Winter (The Lunar Chronicles, #4))
“
Oh, are you doing magic? Let’s see it, then.”
She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.
“Er — all right.”
He cleared his throat.
“Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,
Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow.”
He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep.
“Are you sure that’s a real spell?” said the girl. “Well, it’s not very good, is it? I’ve tried a few simple spells just for practice and it’s all worked for me. I’ve learned all our course books by heart, of course.
”
”
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1))
“
Don't compare her to sunshine and roses when she's clearly orchids and moonlight.
”
”
Melody Lee (Moon Gypsy)
“
Jesus girls! Wake up! If a guy wants to drain you of your energy, emotions, and life force he won’t sparkle in the sunshine, he’ll just marry you.
”
”
Nick Shamhart
“
I say Sunshine and then she shatters.
All the pieces of all the girls go flying and I’m holding the one who’s left.
”
”
Katja Millay (The Sea of Tranquility)
“
Beautiful sunshine, cloudless skies, no one to play with, nothing to do. Living like this, the way I’m living at the moment, is harder in the summer when there is so much daylight, so little cover of darkness, when everyone is out and about, being flagrantly, aggressively happy. It’s exhausting, and it makes you feel bad if you’re not joining in.
”
”
Paula Hawkins (The Girl on the Train)
“
She was not a girl of ice and glass at all, but a girl of sunshine and stardust.
”
”
Marissa Meyer
“
Stories are made about girls like you. The wild ones, those rare faces that smile in the midst of chaos.
”
”
Nikki Rowe
“
I've found that there is always some beauty left — in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can help you. Look at these things, then find yourself again, and God, and then you regain your balance.
”
”
Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl)
“
Mac reflected on the Unseelie King and his concubine:
He’d loved her for all time
After he’d believed she was gone
Sunshine to his ice.
Frost to her fever.
I wished them forever.
You, too, beautiful girl.
The Unseelie King was gone.
”
”
Karen Marie Moning
“
I'm not a concept. I want you to just keep that in your head. Too many guys think I'm a concept or I complete them or I'm going to make them alive, but I'm just a fucked-up girl who is looking for my own peace of mind. Don't assign me yours.
”
”
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
“
...I sometimes wonder if every living thing doesn't need kind words as much as sunshine and water.
”
”
Laura Amy Schlitz (The Hired Girl)
“
I wish people would spread a Faustian rumor about me.' I leaned over and knocked Sunshine's hand out of Luke's hair. 'A Faustian myth,' I repeated. 'It's so much more interesting than just being that nouveau-poor blond girl who lives in a big house with nobody but her jackass brother with pecs bigger than his brain. Sunshine, if I ever disappear, please tell people that I ran after the Devil, trying to get my soul back.
”
”
April Genevieve Tucholke (Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Between, #1))
“
Just before I drop into a chair in my English classroom I pick up my phone and send Nolan a text.
"What if there's a day when I can't be there with my mom when she's at home?"
I don't even have to wait thirty seconds before he sends his reply:
"Then I'll be there
”
”
Paige McKenzie (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl, #1))
“
When I was a little girl, I used to try and bring sunshine to my mother. I felt so bad that she had never really seen or felt it. So I would try and catch it in jars. When that failed, I captured jars and jars of lightening bugs and told her that if we could catch enough of them, then it would look like the sun. She’d laugh, hug me, and then set them free and tell me that nothing should have to live its life in a cage. (Cassandra)
”
”
Sherrilyn Kenyon (Kiss of the Night (Dark-Hunter, #4))
“
I'd like to turn on the whole world for just a moment... just for a moment. I'm greedy; I'd like to keep most of it for myself and a few others, a few of my friends... to keep that superlative high, just on the cusp of each day... so that I'd radiate sunshine.
”
”
Jean Stein (Edie: American Girl)
“
But when my gaze falls on my bed, I freeze, no longer worried what Nolan thinks of the pink or DR.Hoo or my unicorn collection. Instead, I hold up my hand and point at the checkerboard. Someone has made the next move.
”
”
Paige McKenzie (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl, #1))
“
The wood creaks as I step over the threshold, a haunting sort of hello.
”
”
Paige McKenzie (The Awakening of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl, #2))
“
Lives that flash in sunshine, and lives that are born in tears, receive their hue from circumstances. None of us know what a year may bring forth.
”
”
Harriet Ann Jacobs (Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl)
“
Old Money
Blue hydrangea, cold cash, divine,
Cashmere, cologne and white sunshine.
Red racing cars, Sunset and Vine,
The kids were young and pretty.
Where have you been? Where did you go?
Those summer nights seem long ago,
And so is the girl you used to call,
The Queen of New York City.
But if you send for me you know I'll come,
And if you call for me you know I'll run.
I'll run to you, I'll run to you, I'll run, run, run.
I'll come to you, I'll come to you, I'll come, come, come.
Ohh, Ohh.
Ahh, Ahh.
The power of youth is on my mind,
Sunsets, small town, I'm out of time.
Will you still love me when I shine,
From words but not from beauty?
My father's love was always strong,
My mother's glamour lives on and on,
Yet still inside I felt alone,
For reasons unknown to me.
But if you send for me you know I'll come,
And if you call for me you know I'll run.
I'll run to you, I'll run to you, I'll run, run, run.
I'll come to you, I'll come to you, I'll come, come, come.
Ohh, Ohh.
Ahh, Ahh.
And if you call, I'll run, run, run,
If you change your mind, I'll come, come, come.
Ohh, Ohh.
Ahh, Ahh.
Blue hydrangea, cold cash, divine,
Cashmere, cologne and hot sunshine.
Red racing cars, Sunset and Vine,
And we were young and pretty.
”
”
Lana Del Rey
“
She didn’t think things could get any worse, then she saw the sign. Welcome to Florida, it read. The Sunshine State.
”
”
Grady Hendrix (Witchcraft for Wayward Girls)
“
Good Morning—Midnight—
I'm coming Home—
Day—got tired of Me—
How could I—of Him?
Sunshine was a sweet place—
I liked to stay—
But Morn—didn't want me—now—
So—Goodnight—Day!
I can look—can't I—
When the East is Red?
The Hills—have a way—then—
That puts the Heart—abroad—
You—are not so fair—Midnight—
I chose—Day—
But—please take a little Girl—
He turned away!
”
”
Emily Dickinson (Dickinson: Poems)
“
I prefer creeptastic,” Mom answers with a smile.
”
”
Paige McKenzie (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl #1))
“
The girl looked about her. “’ Tis a pretty room,” she said without thinking, and then wondered how that could be, when it was so plain and bare. Perhaps it was only the sunlight on boards that were scrubbed smooth and white, or perhaps it was the feeling of peace that lay across the room as tangibly as the bar of sunshine.
”
”
Elizabeth George Speare (The Witch of Blackbird Pond)
“
The windows of number fifteen, reflecting morning sunshine, look like sightless eyes.
”
”
Paula Hawkins (The Girl on the Train)
“
As long as this exists," I thought, "and I may live to see it, this sunshine, the cloudless skies, while this lasts, I cannot be unhappy.
”
”
Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl)
“
Well, what can I say? I’m a ray of freaking sunshine.” “You’re the whole fucking sun, baby girl.
”
”
Sadie Kincaid (Joey (Chicago Ruthless, #2))
“
Ma was heavy, but not fat; thick with child-bearing and work. She wore a loose Mother Hubbard of gray cloth in which there had once been colored flowers, but the color was washed out now, so that the small flowered pattern was only a little lighter gray than the background. The dress came down to her ankles, and he strong, broad, bare feet moved quickly and deftly over the floor. Her thin, steel-gray hair was gathered in a sparse wispy knot at the back of her head. Strong, freckled arms were bare to the elbow, and her hands were chubby and delicate, like those of a plump little girl. She looked out into the sunshine. Her full face was not soft; it was controlled, kindly. Her hazel eyes seemed to have experienced all possible tragedy and to have mounted pain and suffering like steps into a high calm and a superhuman understanding. She seemed to know, to accept, to welcome her position, the citadel of the family, the strong place that could not be taken. And since old Tom and the children could not know hurt or fear unless she acknowledged hurt and fear, she had practiced denying them in herself. And since, when a joyful thing happened, they looked to see whether joy was on her, it was her habit to build up laughter out of inadequate materials. But better than joy was calm. Imperturbability could be depended upon. And from her great and humble position in the family she had taken dignity and a clean calm beauty. From her position as healer, her hands had grown sure and cool and quiet; from her position as arbiter she had become as remote and faultless in judgment as a goddess. She seemed to know that if she swayed the family shook, and if she ever really deeply wavered or despaired the family would fall, the family will to function would be gone.
”
”
John Steinbeck (The Grapes of Wrath)
“
As long as this exists,” I thought, “this sunshine and this cloudless sky, and as long as I can enjoy it, how can I be sad?” The best remedy for those who are frightened, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere they can be alone, alone with the sky, nature and God. For then and only then can you feel that everything is as it should be and that God wants people to be happy amid nature’s beauty and simplicity. As long as this exists, and that should be forever, I know that there will be solace for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances. I firmly believe that nature can bring comfort to all who suffer.
”
”
Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl)
“
Lives that flash in sunshine, and lives that are born in tears, receive their hue from circumstances.
”
”
Harriet Ann Jacobs (Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Hero Classics))
“
It’s impossible to feel homesick with the familiar weight of the book in my hands.
”
”
Paige McKenzie (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl #1))
“
Mom was just teasing when she asked whether I felt safe being left alone in a haunted house. But now I know: once you move into one, you're never really alone again.
”
”
Paige McKenzie (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl, #1))
“
Baby girl
Wake up and
Worry a little less today
Be brave and strong
Open the doors and receive
All the light
Let the rays of sunshine come in
”
”
Jyoti Patel (The Curved Rainbow)
“
The element was dubbed “liquid sunshine,
”
”
Kate Moore (The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women)
“
Anyway, why would I want friends I had to act fake in front of? I don’t want to pretend to be scared of dead things and to prefer digital to film. I don’t mind that I’m old-fashioned.
”
”
Paige McKenzie (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl #1))
“
Once upon a time we all walked on the golden road. It was a fair highway, through the Land of Lost Delight; shadow and sunshine were blessedly mingled, and every turn and dip revealed a fresh charm and a new loveliness to eager hearts and unspoiled eyes.
On that road we heard the song of morning stars; we drank in fragrances aerial and sweet as a May mist; we were rich in gossamer fancies and iris hopes; our hearts sought and found the boon of dreams; the years waited beyond and they were very fair; life was a rose-lipped comrade with purple flowers dripping from her fingers.
We may long have left the golden road behind, but its memories are the dearest of our eternal possessions; and those who cherish them as such may haply find a pleasure in the pages of this book, whose people are pilgrims on the golden road of youth.
”
”
L.M. Montgomery (The Golden Road (The Story Girl, #2))
“
What happens when emotion is too big, when it fills the chest and the veins and the limbs? I imagine sunshine filling me until I shatter - leaving starburst-coated girl shrapnel strewn across this bed.
”
”
Christina Lauren (Dark Wild Night (Wild Seasons, #3))
“
How could I explain to a beautiful lady in a silk dress that when I picked up her baby girl, I felt that lady's long-ago chubby shape in my arms, smelled her sunshine-touched hair? That years and years of tiny memories flitted past my heart like a flock of birds spinning on invisible air? It was the smell of the little girls, slightly wet, somewhat soapy, the smell of porridge supper, and the taste of kissed-away tears. Here in my arms were the best parts of life, going on, blooming like a strong tree.
”
”
Nancy E. Turner (Sarah's Quilt (Sarah Agnes Prine, #2))
“
Well … damn. You’re obviously in a mood.” “Am I?” There was danger in her tone. “Am I really? Why should that be exceptional? A boy may be as disagreeable as he pleases, but when a girl refuses to crap sunshine on command the world mutters darkly about her moods.
”
”
Scott Lynch (The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard, #3))
“
As I brush my teeth, I scroll through my phone to see if Sabrina texted when my phone was on silent last night.
She didn’t. Damn. I was hoping my speech—and that amazing fucking kiss—might’ve changed her mind about going out with me, but I guess it didn’t.
I do, however, find the most mind-boggling conversation in the group chat I have with my roommates. All the messages are from last night, and they’re bizarre as fuck.
Garrett: The hells, D?!
Dean: It’s not what you think!!
Logan: It’s hard to mistake ur romantic bath with that giant pink thing! In ur ass!
Dean: It wasn’t in my ass!
Garrett: I’m not even going to ask where it was
Dean: I had a girl over!
Garrett: Suuuuuuuuure
Logan: Suuuuuuuuure
Dean: I hate you guys
Garrett: <3
Logan: <3
I rinse my mouth out, spit, and drop the toothbrush into the little cup on the sink. Then I quickly type out a text.
Me: Wait… what did I miss?
Since we have practice in twenty minutes, the guys are already awake and clearly on their phones. Two photos pop up simultaneously. Garrett and Logan have both sent me pics of pink dildos. I’m even more confused now.
Dean messages immediately with, Why do you guys have dildo pics handy?
Logan: ALINIMB
Dean: ??
Me: ??
Garrett: At Least It’s Not In My Butt.
I snort to myself, because I’m starting to piece it together.
Logan: Nice, G! U got that on the first try!
Garrett: We spend too much time 2gether.
Me: PLEASE tell me u caught D playing w/ dildos.
Logan: Sure did.
Dean is quick to object again.
I HAD A GIRL OVER!
The guys and I rag on him for a couple more minutes, but I have to stop when Fitzy stumbles into the bathroom and shoves me aside. He’s got crazy bedhead and he’s buck-naked.
“Gotta piss,” he mumbles.
“Mornin’, sunshine,” I say cheerfully. “Want me to make you some coffee?”
“God. Yes. Please.”
Chuckling, I duck out of the bathroom and walk the four or so steps into his kitchenette. When he finally emerges, I shove a cup of coffee in his hand, sip my own, and say, “Dean shoved a dildo up his ass last night.”
Fitzy nods. “Makes sense.”
I snicker mid-sip. Coffee spills over the rim of my cup. “It really does, huh?
”
”
Elle Kennedy (The Goal (Off-Campus, #4))
“
So Amy sailed away to find the old world, which is always new and beautiful to young eyes, while her father and friend watched her from the shore, fervently hoping that none but gentle fortunes would befall the happy-hearted girl, who waved her hand to them till they could see nothing but the summer sunshine dazzling on the sea.
”
”
Louisa May Alcott (Little Women (Little Women, #1))
“
My friend Jenni calls them Sunshine Stealers. Men who have been at it a little too long, who are tired of the ride but can't get off. They're looking for some new form of energy, of approval. It's linked with sex, but it's not the same. What they want to take from you is way worse than your thong in the back of their Lexus. It's ideas, curiosity, an excitement about getting up in the morning and making things.
”
”
Lena Dunham (Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's "Learned")
“
You will feel little in life. Somedays you will feel small. But it will pass. Be brave. Be strong. Be my sunshine.
”
”
Priya Ardis (Girl With Three Eyes)
“
He’d make some lucky girl a fine ex-husband one day.
”
”
Darynda Jones (A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram, #2))
“
Aidan didn’t want me to get too attached to my humanity—to my life—because he knew that I might have to give it up. “Is this the real reason you didn’t want Nolan to come here?
”
”
Paige McKenzie (The Awakening of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl, #2))
“
How little it takes to make a young girl happy! A pretty dress, sunshine, and somebody opposite, and they are blest.
”
”
Louisa May Alcott (Kitty's Class Day and Other Stories)
Paige McKenzie (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl #1))
“
Still, it’s really frustrating me that there doesn’t seem to be anything in my closet that’s appropriate to wear to an exorcism.
”
”
Paige McKenzie (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl, #1))
“
She was a spill of sunshine in the shape of a girl
”
”
Alyssa Wees (The Waking Forest)
“
You’re not supposed to want to date a boy just for jacket access.
”
”
Paige McKenzie (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl #1))
“
Lucille has a dull life, Mr. Marlowe. She's stuck here with me and a PBX. And an itty-bitty diamond ring - so small I was ashamed to give it to her. But what can a man do? If he loves a girl, he'd like it to show on her finger."
Lucille held her left hand up and moved it around to get a flash from the little stone. "I hate it," she said. "I hate it like I hate the sunshine and the summer and the bright stars and the full moon. That's how I hate it".
I picked up the key and my suitcase and left them. A little more of that and I'd be falling in love with myself. I might even give myself a small unpretentious diamond ring.
”
”
Raymond Chandler (Playback (Philip Marlowe, #7))
“
The thing is, we all proceed a lot more unconsciously, mechanically, than we would care to admit, and to do otherwise requires tremendous strength, and a constant effort not to lie to ourselves, which is something I’m trying to do with all of my might.
”
”
Julianna Margulies (Sunshine Girl: An Unexpected Life)
“
when you’re standing beside an open window at twilight, you can say more to each other than in bright sunshine. It’s also easier to whisper your feelings than to shout them from the rooftops.
”
”
Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl)
“
I suppose it is because I have lived rather a restricted life myself that I have found so much enjoyment in remembering what I have learned in these last years about brave people and strange scenes. I have sat here day after day this winter, sleeping a good deal in my chair, hardly knowing if I was in London or the Gulf country, dreaming of the blazing sunshine, of poddy-dodging and black stockmen, of Cairns and of Green Island. Of a girl that I met forty years too late, and of her life in that small town that I shall never see again, that holds so much of my affection.
”
”
Nevil Shute
“
Little girls are the nicest things that can happen to people. They are born with a bit of angel-shine about them, and though it wears thin sometimes, there is always enough left to lasso your heart—even when they are sitting in the mud, or crying temperamental tears, or parading up the street in Mother’s best clothes.
A little girl can be sweeter (and badder) oftener than anyone else in the world. She can jitter around, and stomp, and make funny noises that frazzle your nerves, yet just when you open your mouth, she stands there demure with that special look in her eyes. A girl is Innocence playing in the mud, Beauty standing on its head, and Motherhood dragging a doll by the foot.
God borrows from many creatures to make a little girl. He uses the song of a bird, the squeal of a pig, the stubbornness of a mule, the antics of a monkey, the spryness of a grasshopper, the curiosity of a cat, the speed of a gazelle, the slyness of a fox, the softness of a kitten, and to top it all off He adds the mysterious mind of a woman.
A little girl likes new shoes, party dresses, small animals, first grade, noisemakers, the girl next door, dolls, make-believe, dancing lessons, ice cream, kitchens, coloring books, make-up, cans of water, going visiting, tea parties, and one boy. She doesn’t care so much for visitors, boys in general, large dogs, hand-me-downs, straight chairs, vegetables, snowsuits, or staying in the front yard.
She is loudest when you are thinking, the prettiest when she has provoked you, the busiest at bedtime, the quietest when you want to show her off, and the most flirtatious when she absolutely must not get the best of you again. Who else can cause you more grief, joy, irritation, satisfaction, embarrassment, and genuine delight than this combination of Eve, Salome, and Florence Nightingale.
She can muss up your home, your hair, and your dignity—spend your money, your time, and your patience—and just when your temper is ready to crack, her sunshine peeks through and you’ve lost again. Yes, she is a nerve-wracking nuisance, just a noisy bundle of mischief. But when your dreams tumble down and the world is a mess—when it seems you are pretty much of a fool after all—she can make you a king when she climbs on your knee and whispers, "I love you best of all!
”
”
Alan Beck
“
Some little girls grow up with fathers who are decent, kind and tenderly nested by their daughter's heart. Other little girls grow up with no father at all, thus ignorant of good men and the not so good ones. The unluckiest of all little girls grow up with fathers who know how to make storms out of sunshine and blue skies. My mother was one such unlucky little girl and suffered the childhood you run away from. Except, if you have nowhere to run to
”
”
Tiffany McDaniel (Betty)
“
and I sometimes wonder if every living thing doesn’t need kind words as much as sunshine and water.
”
”
Laura Amy Schlitz (The Hired Girl)
“
Everyone looks so excited for the first day of school, hugging each other hello and wearing bright, shiny new outfits that practically glow in fog.
”
”
Paige McKenzie (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl #1))
“
Empathy can be a powerful tool.
”
”
Paige McKenzie (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl #1))
“
if you ever leave our girl wanting again, I'll remove you from her life completely, understand?" Gavriel
”
”
Coralee June (Sunshine and Bullets (The Bullets, #1))
“
Because I have a boyfriend.” “You should probably put him on notice then, sunshine,” he murmured with a slightly crazed grin. “Of what?” I whispered. “Of the fact he’s about to lose his girl.
”
”
C.R. Jane (The Pucking Wrong Guy (Pucking Wrong, #2))
“
As for your sisters…I love all my children equally. But you, Sunshine, you’re my firstborn. My baby girl who taught me what it was—what it is—to be a father.” I can’t help the tear that slips down my cheek. “I loved you the moment I held you in the palm of my hand, and that’ll never change kiddo.
”
”
Bal Khabra (Collide (Off the Ice, #1))
“
I open my eyes. That’s when I discover what that wailing sound was. My mouth wasn’t frozen shut after all. When I finally understand why Aidan and Lucio sounded like they were arguing from miles away: I was straining to hear them over the sound of my own voice. This whole time I’ve been screaming.
”
”
Paige McKenzie (The Awakening of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl, #2))
“
But what my car needs is gas, not memories! How can you make a car go on memories?'
B.D. scratched under her Admiral's hat. 'What'd you think gas was, girl? 'Course there's all sorts of fuel, wind and wishes and chocolate cake and collard greens and water and brawn, but you're wanting the kind that burns in an engine. That kind of gas is nothing more than the past stored up and fermented and kept down in the cellar of the earth till it's wanted. Gas is saved-up sunlight. Giant ferns and apples of immortality and dimetrodons and cyclopses and werewhales drank up the sun as it shone on their backs a million years ago and used it to be a bigger fern or make more werewhales or drop seeds of improbability.' Her otter's paws moved quick and sure, selecting a squat, square bottle here and a round rosy one there. 'It so happens sunshine has a fearful memory. It sticks around even after its favorite dimetrodon dies. Gets hard and wily. Turns into something you can touch, something you can drill, something you can pour. But it still remembers having one eye and slapping the ocean's face with a great heavy tail. It liked making more dinosaurs and growing a frond as tall as a bank. It likes to make things alive, to make things go.
”
”
Catherynne M. Valente (The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two (Fairyland, #3))
“
I once two beautiful children playing together. One was a fair white child; the other was her slave, and also her sister. When I saw them embracing each other, and heard their joyous laughter, I turned sadly away from the lovely sight. I foresaw the inevitable blight that would follow on the little slave's heart. I knew how soon her laughter would be changed to sighs. The fair child grew up to be a still fairer woman. From childhood to womanhood her pathway was blooming with flowers, and overarched by a sunny sky. Scarcely one day of her life had been clouded when the sun rose on her happy bridal morning.
How had those years dealt with her slave sister, the little playmate of her childhood? She, also, was very beautiful; but the flowers and sunshine of love were not for her. She drank the cup of sin, and shame, and misery, whereof her persecuted race are compelled to drink.
In view of these things, why are ye silent, ye free men and women of the north? Why do your tongues falter in maintenance of the right? Would that I had more ability! But my heart is so full, and my pen is so weak! There are noble men and women who plead for us, striving to help those who cannot help themselves. God bless them! God give them strength and courage to go on! God bless those, every where, who are laboring to advance the cause of humanity!
”
”
Harriet Ann Jacobs (Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl)
“
…I got my first cheerleading outfit when I was still in diapers. All of us [girls] did. If we were lucky, we made it to twelve before some man or boy, or some well-intentioned woman who just thought we ought to know the score, let us know why we were put on this earth. To cheer [men and boys] on. To smile and bring a little sunshine into the room. To prop them up and know them, and be nice to everybody we meet.
”
”
Elizabeth Wetmore (Valentine)
“
She laughs then, which was my goal, and I catch a glimpse of the girl I remember. If Parker wasn’t laughing, she was smiling. Always. She was a compact ball of sunshine who drove away the constant storm cloud I lived under. For a while.
”
”
Emma St. Clair (Just Don't Fall (Sweater Weather, #1; Appies, #1))
“
She loved to do the "little things" that others did not see, or were too busy to stop for: and while doing them, without a thought of thanks, she made sunshine for herself as well as others. That is how I was brought up and how I brought up my children. <3
”
”
Louisa May Alcott (An Old-Fashioned Girl)
“
I regard a love for poetry as one of the most needful and helpful elements in the life-outfit of a human being. It was the greatest of blessings to me, in the long days of toil to which I was shut in much earlier than most young girls are, that the poetry I held in my memory breathed its enchanted atmosphere through me and around me, and touched even dull drudgery with its sunshine.
”
”
Lucy Larcom
“
And then, because I’m now the one thinking too much, and because she is different from all other girls and because I really, really don’t want to screw this up, I concentrate on kissing her on the banks of the Blue Hole, in the sunshine, and I let that be enough.
”
”
Jennifer Niven (All the Bright Places)
“
Warmth stole into Murdoch's voice at the memory, and Farah's heart clenched at the picture of her Dougan not yet a man, and yet not a boy, regaling a room full of hardened prisoners about the graveyard capers and bog adventures of a ten-year-old girl in the Scottish Highlands. "He described ye so many times, I feel as though any of us would have recognized ye had we seen ye on the streets. He told us of yer kindness, yer innocence, yer gentle ways and boundless curiosity. Ye became something of a patron saint to us all. Our daughter. Our sister. Our... Fairy. Without even knowing it, ye gave us- him- a little bit of sunshine and hope in a world of shadow and pain.
”
”
Kerrigan Byrne (The Highwayman (Victorian Rebels, #1))
“
When girls like us fall, there’s no one to catch us. Least of all that boy for whom we’ve taken the fall.
We’re the girls with secrets and witchy hearts. We’re the girls who listen to sad songs. Who slow dance to them with tears streaming down our faces, even as a smile lingers on our lips. Who cry in our pillows at night and who ride our sunshine-yellow bicycle along the empty, desolate, miserable places, where no one goes.
”
”
Saffron A. Kent (My Darling Arrow (St. Mary’s Rebels, #1))
“
He’d never met anyone who wore sunshine quite like Penelope Edgewood. At first, it had been too much. Too overpowering and seemingly inauthentic, but then, over the weeks, her vibrancy melded into the spaces of this theater, shining in shadowy places no one had noticed for much too long.
”
”
Pepper Basham (Positively, Penelope (Skymar, #2))
“
O, what days and nights of fear and sorrow that man caused me! Reader, it is not to awaken sympathy for myself that I am telling you truthfully what I suffered in slavery. I do it to kindle a flame of compassion in your hearts for my sisters who are still in bondage, suffering as I once suffered. I once saw two beautiful children playing together. One was a fair white child; the other was her slave, and also her sister. When I saw them embracing each other, and heard their joyous laughter, I turned sadly away from the lovely sight. I foresaw the inevitable blight that would fall on the little slave's heart. I knew how soon her laughter would be changed to sighs. The fair child grew up to be a still fairer woman. From childhood to womanhood her pathway was blooming with flowers, and overarched by a sunny sky. Scarcely one day of her life had been clouded when the sun rose on her happy bridal morning. How had those years dealt with her slave sister, the little playmate of her childhood? She, also, was very beautiful; but the flowers and sunshine of love were not for her. She drank the cup of sin, and shame, and misery, whereof her persecuted race are compelled to drink.
”
”
Harriet Ann Jacobs (Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl)
“
Oh, I’m sorry!” he said. “I just fell out of the sky. I constructed a helicopter in midair, burst into flames halfway down, crash-landed and barely survived. But by all means – let’s talk about your dining table!”
He snatched up a half-melted goblet. “Who puts a dining table on the beach where innocent demigods can crash into it? Who does that?”
The girl clenched her fists. Leo was pretty sure she was going to march down the crater and punch him in the face. Instead she looked up at the sky.
“REALLY?” she screamed at the empty blue. “You want to make my curse even worse? Zeus! Hephaestus! Hermes! Have you no shame?”
“Uh …” Leo noticed that she’d just picked three gods to blame, and one of them was his dad. He figured that wasn’t a good sign. “I doubt they’re listening. You know, the whole split-personality thing—”
“Show yourself!” the girl yelled at the sky, completely ignoring Leo. “It’s not bad enough I am exiled? It’s not bad enough you take away the few good heroes I’m allowed to meet? You think it’s funny to send me this—this charbroiled runt of a boy to ruin my tranquillity? This is NOT FUNNY! Take him back!”
“Hey, Sunshine,” Leo said. “I’m right here, you know.”
She growled like a cornered animal. “Do not call me Sunshine! Get out of that hole and come with me now so I can get you off my island!”
“Well, since you asked so nicely …”
Leo didn’t know what the crazy girl was so worked up about, but he didn’t really care. If she could help him leave this island, that was totally fine by him. He clutched his charred sphere and climbed out of the crater. When he reached the top, the girl was already marching down the shoreline. He jogged to catch up.
She gestured in disgust at the burning wreckage. “This was a pristine beach! Look at it now.”
“Yeah, my bad,” Leo muttered. “I should’ve crashed on one of the other islands. Oh, wait – there aren’t any!”
She snarled and kept walking along the edge of the water.
”
”
Rick Riordan (The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus, #4))
“
I’m in love with you,” he said again. “You’re forever, Sunshine.”
[...]
“I’m in love with you, too, Braxton Jenkins.” Tears filled my eyes. “Forever won’t be nearly long enough.”
“Sweetheart,” he said, his eyes holding mine. “Forever is for fuckin’ sissies. Pardon my French, but let’s go for eternity, yeah?
”
”
Cindy Miles (Stupid Girl (Stupid in Love, #1))
“
Maybe, if I looked like a girl from Phoenix should, I could work this to my advantage. But physically, I’d never fit in anywhere. I should be tan, sporty, blonde—a volleyball player, or a cheerleader, perhaps—all the things that go with living in the valley of the sun. Instead, I was ivory-skinned, without even the excuse of blue eyes or red hair, despite the constant sunshine. I had always been slender, but soft somehow, obviously not an athlete; I didn’t have the necessary hand-
”
”
Stephenie Meyer (Twilight (Twilight, #1))
“
Someone in the sweater business should totally try to corner that market: extra-long-sleeved sweaters so you don’t need gloves to keep your hands warm! They’d make millions. Or maybe not: everyone else at school is wearing clothes that actually fit them, so it’s possible that I’d be the only customer for a product like that.
”
”
Paige McKenzie (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl #1))
“
want to be the girl who dances in the rain. I want to be the girl who jumps in puddles. I want to be the girl who can stare at the gray sky and watch the lightning and know it’s okay to appreciate the darkness. I don’t want to be the girl who can only survive in the sunshine. Life’s not all sunshine. I don’t want to pretend that it is anymore.
”
”
J.S. Cooper (Four Week Fiance 2 (Four Week Fiancé, #2))
“
Walking around today, I wondered if the problem wasn’t that the market had changed as the fact Gabriel had changed. It’s still populated by sixteen-year-olds, embracing the sunshine, sprawled on either side of the canal, a jumble of bodies—boys in rolled-up shorts with bare chests, girls in bikinis or bras—skin everywhere, burning, reddening flesh. The sexual energy was palpable—their hungry, impatient thirst for life. I felt a sudden desire for Gabriel—for his body and his strong legs, his thick thighs lain over mine. When we have sex, I always feel an insatiable hunger for him—for a kind of union between us—something that’s bigger than me, bigger than us, beyond words—something holy.
”
”
Alex Michaelides (The Silent Patient)
“
All the time, of course, Laura or Mary was minding Baby Carrie, except when she had her afternoon nap. Then they sat and soaked in the sunshine and the wind until Laura forgot that the baby was sleeping. She jumped up and ran and shouted till Ma came to the door and said, “Dear me, Laura, must you yell like an Indian? I declare,” Ma said, “if you girls aren’t getting to look like Indians! Can I never teach you to keep your sunbonnets on?”
Pa was up on the house wall beginning the roof. He looked down at them and laughed.
“One little Indian, two little Indians, three little Indians,” he sang, softly. “No, only two.”
“You make three,” Mary said to him. “You’re brown, too.”
“But you aren’t little, Pa,” said Laura.
”
”
Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House on the Prairie (Little House, #3))
“
Wylie,” the little girl said shyly. “My name is Josie.” And they stepped out into the brittle sunshine.
”
”
Heather Gudenkauf (The Overnight Guest)
“
Ms. Thistle was like a ray of sunshine; everything she did and said could trigger light in even the darkest of places.
”
”
Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (Where Sleeping Girls Lie)
“
Like Ginger Rogers dancing with Fred Astaire: he got all the credit, but Ms. Rogers was dancing the same steps backward and in high heels.
”
”
Julianna Margulies (Sunshine Girl: An Unexpected Life)
“
Betty laughed. 'He'll be an old boy with white hair and deathly-pale skin because he spends all his time with his books and doesn't see enough sunshine
”
”
Susanna Bavin (Courage for the Home Front Girls (The Home Front Girls #2))
“
Listen, you've known her longer than I have, but this is a girl who loves people. She loves sunshine and human interaction and... well... She loves love.
”
”
Jeremy Whitley (The Unstoppable Wasp (2017) #4)
“
She had finally made the decision to sacrifice herself for the greater good. Then, just like that, she changed her mind, thanks to her boyfriend and his confounded
”
”
Paige McKenzie (The Awakening of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl, #2))
“
Little dictionary sprite, sunshine vendor, and girl to be loved.
”
”
Susan Glaspell
“
A horror movie. The kind you’re not supposed to watch before you go to sleep at night. Despite
”
”
Paige McKenzie (The Awakening of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl, #2))
“
(no raisins—why do people put raisins in cookies and cakes, yuck).
”
”
Paige McKenzie (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl #1))
“
A boy may be as disagreeable as he pleases, but when a girl refuses to crap sunshine on command the world mutters darkly about her moods.
”
”
Scott Lynch (The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard, #3))
“
Beautiful sunshine, cloudless skies, no one to play with, nothing to do.
”
”
Paula Hawkins (The Girl on the Train)
“
A woman over thirty-five will never ask you what you’re thinking, she doesn’t care.
”
”
Julianna Margulies (Sunshine Girl: An Unexpected Life)
“
green and cold and waiting for fingers of sunshine to creep up from the tracks and make them all come alive.
”
”
Paula Hawkins (The Girl on the Train)
“
We don’t have to wait for the sunshine of spring to splash color into our days when our relationship with Jesus illuminates brightness to every day.
”
”
Tessa Emily Hall (Coffee Shop Devos: Daily Devotional Pick-Me-Ups for Teen Girls)
“
Nolan shrugs like it’s no big deal to be able to read a thousand-page tome in a matter of days. Suddenly a big fat raindrop falls from the sky,
”
”
Paige McKenzie (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl #1))
“
I’m squinting into hazy morning sunshine.
”
”
Paula Hawkins (The Girl on the Train)
“
cats stretched out in puddles of sunshine;
”
”
Lisa Jewell (The Girls in the Garden)
“
Why, you 've no idea how much goodness and sunshine you can get out of the most unpromising things, if you make the best of them.
”
”
Louisa May Alcott (An Old-Fashioned Girl)
“
Goldie Sunshine Jacobs. She was that girl. Her name fit her well. Beautiful
”
”
Laura Pavlov (Snow Place Like Home (Home Sweet Holidays, #1))
“
For a long time I've wanted to apologize for my behavior that year, but I'm not sure how or even if it would be sincere. How does the man (woman) apologize for the boy (girl)? (132)
”
”
Michael Greenberg (Hurry Down Sunshine: A Memoir)
“
It’s still warm; there are clouds of midges under the trees and the sunshine is streaming through the leaves, bathing the path in an oddly subterranean light. Above our heads, magpies chatter angrily.
”
”
Paula Hawkins (The Girl on the Train)
“
She wove golden rays of sunshine,
Into a long and flowing dress,
That left the scent on everything she touched,
Of nature's sweet caress,
Everywhere the girl did go,
The flowers would all bloom,
And she could chase the lonely feeling,
Out of every room,
She could drive out all your sadness,
And cause a frozen heart to thaw,
She's paint the sky pink every morning,
But nobody ever saw,
No one thought to thank her,
For the warmth upon their skin,
Or for chasing all their demons,
From where the night-time's breath had been,
So she thought she wasn't needed,
She could leave and they'd not care,
But they'd taken her for granted,
Since her light was always there,
Because you never thank the ground,
Until you know how it feels to fall,
Or just how much you need the sun,
Until it doesn't rise at all.
”
”
Erin Hunter
“
I may have smiled to myself as I watched the familiar pattern of the town pass, the bus cruising through shade to sunshine. I'd grown up in this place, had the knowledge of it so deep in me that I didn't even know most street names, navigating instead by landmarks, visual or memorial. The corner where my mother had twisted her ankle in a mauve pantsuit. The copse of trees that always looked vaguely attended by evil. The drugstore with its torn awning. Through the window of that unfamiliar bus, the burr of old carpet under my legs, my hometown seemed scrubbed clean of my presence. It was easy to leave it behind.
”
”
Emma Cline (The Girls)
“
It's just that when you're standing beside an open window at twilight, you can say more to
each other than in bright sunshine. It's also easier to whisper your feelings than to
shout them from the rooftops.
”
”
Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl)
“
In The Garret
Four little chests all in a row,
Dim with dust, and worn by time,
All fashioned and filled, long ago,
By children now in their prime.
Four little keys hung side by side,
With faded ribbons, brave and gay
When fastened there, with childish pride,
Long ago, on a rainy day.
Four little names, one on each lid,
Carved out by a boyish hand,
And underneath there lieth hid
Histories of the happy band
Once playing here, and pausing oft
To hear the sweet refrain,
That came and went on the roof aloft,
In the falling summer rain.
'Meg' on the first lid, smooth and fair.
I look in with loving eyes,
For folded here, with well-known care,
A goodly gathering lies,
The record of a peaceful life--
Gifts to gentle child and girl,
A bridal gown, lines to a wife,
A tiny shoe, a baby curl.
No toys in this first chest remain,
For all are carried away,
In their old age, to join again
In another small Meg's play.
Ah, happy mother! Well I know
You hear, like a sweet refrain,
Lullabies ever soft and low
In the falling summer rain.
'Jo' on the next lid, scratched and worn,
And within a motley store
Of headless dolls, of schoolbooks torn,
Birds and beasts that speak no more,
Spoils brought home from the fairy ground
Only trod by youthful feet,
Dreams of a future never found,
Memories of a past still sweet,
Half-writ poems, stories wild,
April letters, warm and cold,
Diaries of a wilful child,
Hints of a woman early old,
A woman in a lonely home,
Hearing, like a sad refrain--
'Be worthy, love, and love will come,'
In the falling summer rain.
My Beth! the dust is always swept
From the lid that bears your name,
As if by loving eyes that wept,
By careful hands that often came.
Death canonized for us one saint,
Ever less human than divine,
And still we lay, with tender plaint,
Relics in this household shrine--
The silver bell, so seldom rung,
The little cap which last she wore,
The fair, dead Catherine that hung
By angels borne above her door.
The songs she sang, without lament,
In her prison-house of pain,
Forever are they sweetly blent
With the falling summer rain.
Upon the last lid's polished field--
Legend now both fair and true
A gallant knight bears on his shield,
'Amy' in letters gold and blue.
Within lie snoods that bound her hair,
Slippers that have danced their last,
Faded flowers laid by with care,
Fans whose airy toils are past,
Gay valentines, all ardent flames,
Trifles that have borne their part
In girlish hopes and fears and shames,
The record of a maiden heart
Now learning fairer, truer spells,
Hearing, like a blithe refrain,
The silver sound of bridal bells
In the falling summer rain.
Four little chests all in a row,
Dim with dust, and worn by time,
Four women, taught by weal and woe
To love and labor in their prime.
Four sisters, parted for an hour,
None lost, one only gone before,
Made by love's immortal power,
Nearest and dearest evermore.
Oh, when these hidden stores of ours
Lie open to the Father's sight,
May they be rich in golden hours,
Deeds that show fairer for the light,
Lives whose brave music long shall ring,
Like a spirit-stirring strain,
Souls that shall gladly soar and sing
In the long sunshine after rain
”
”
Louisa May Alcott (Little Women)
“
There was danger in her tone. “Am I really? Why should that be exceptional? A boy may be as disagreeable as he pleases, but when a girl refuses to crap sunshine on command the world mutters darkly about her moods.
”
”
Scott Lynch (The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard, #3))
“
Outside, in the garden, it was playtime. Naked in the warm June sunshine, six or seven hundred little boys and girls were running with shrill yells over the lawns, or playing ball games, or squatting silently in twos and threes among the flowering shrubs. The roses were in bloom, two nightingales soliloquized in the boscage, a cuckoo was just going out of tune among the lime trees. The air was drowsy with the murmur of bees and helicopters.
”
”
Aldous Huxley (Brave New World)
“
Outside, in the garden, it was playtime. Naked in the warm June sunshine, six or seven hundred little boys and girls were running with shrill yells over the lawns, or playing ball games, or squatting silently in twos and threes among the flowering shrubs. The roses were in bloom, two nightingales soliloquized in the boskage, a cuckoo was just going out of tune among the lime trees. The air was drowsy with the murmur of bees and helicopters.
”
”
Aldous Huxley (Brave New World)
“
What can we do? We must live our lives. Yes, we shall live, Uncle Vanya. We shall live through the long procession of days before us, and through the long evenings; we shall patiently bear the trials that fate imposes on us; we shall work for others without rest, both now and when we are old; and when our last hour comes we shall meet it humbly, and there, beyond the grave, we shall say that we have suffered and wept, that our life was bitter, and God
”
”
Julianna Margulies (Sunshine Girl: An Unexpected Life)
“
Yes, I was a good girl, a churchgoing, straight A-receiving, animal-loving blond with a serious penchant for all things pink and girly. But I was drawn to the dark like a planet pulled irrevocably toward a black hole. I wanted more than sunshine and flowers.
”
”
Giana Darling (Dead Man Walking (The Fallen Men, #6))
“
The feels had me a little carried away there." "The feels?" Lizzie arched a brow. "Girl, you are too much sunshine for one person." "And you are too much grey cloud," Claire quipped. Turning to me, she cooed, "And Shan, here, is our pretty, little silver lining.
”
”
Chloe Walsh (Keeping 13 (Boys of Tommen, #2))
“
For the boys
Who only know
How to show their love
In rainstorms.
I hope you fall for a girl
Who thinks
That you’re the
Brightest sunshine
She has ever seen.
I hope she sees you
As rainbows
And green grass
And blue skies And love
And love
And above all
Love.
”
”
Zienab Hamdan
“
Bright, blinding light.
Motherfucking sunshine.
A taste of sweet, sweet lemonade.
That’s what Nikki was. Felt myself itching to lean forward and glean some of it. to swim in her calm and her belief.
They say sunshine chases away the dark. I swore, all it did was illuminate mine. Amplify why I couldn’t take her. Have her.
I was a bastard.
A sinner.
God knew what I was responsible for.
He also knew what I’d be willing to do – vengeance a greed I carried in the palm of my hands.
But that girl? She was a sin I’d never again commit.
”
”
A.L. Jackson (Lead Me Home (Fight for Me, #3))
“
I want to apologize to you,” she says calmly.
“Oh yeah? For what?” I don’t have time for this. We don’t have time for this. I push away thoughts of what will happen to Hana even if I manage to escape. She’ll be here, in the house . . .
My stomach is clenching and unclenching. I’m worried the bread will come straight back up. I have to stay focused. What happens to Hana isn’t my concern, and it isn’t my fault, either.
“For telling the regulators about 37 Brooks,” she says. “For telling them about you and Alex.”
Just like that, my brain powers down. “What?"
“I told them.” She lets out a tiny exhalation, as though saying the words has given her relief. “I’m sorry. I was jealous.”
I can’t speak. I’m swimming through a fog. “Jealous?” I manage to spit out.
“I—I wanted what you had with Alex. I was confused. I didn’t understand what I was doing.” She shakes her head again.
I have a swinging, seasick feeling. It doesn’t make any sense. Hana—golden girl Hana, my best friend, fearless and reckless. I trusted her. I loved her. “You were my best friend.”
“I know.” Again she looks troubled, as though trying to recall the meaning of the words.
“You had everything.” I can’t stop my voice from rising. The anger is vibrating, ripping through me like a live current. “Perfect life. Perfect grades. Everything.” I gesture to the spotless kitchen, to the sunshine pouring over the marble counters like drizzled butter. “I had nothing. He was my one thing. My only—” The sickness surges up and I take a step forward, clenching my fists, blind with rage. “Why couldn’t you let me have it? Why did you have to take it? Why did you always take everything?
”
”
Lauren Oliver (Requiem (Delirium, #3))
“
I’ve got her now,” Jesus Christ said with full authority. “And there is nothing you can do about it. You've done enough. You are no longer allowed anywhere near her.”
“But, she’s my girl!” I blurt out, trying to own my property.
“No.” His words were like fire. “She is MY girl.
”
”
Sunshine Rodgers (After You)
“
The more I want to be oblivious, the less I can be. Life and light will not let me be. I lie there, listening to the sound of Cathy’s urgent, cheerful busyness, and I think about the clothes on the side of the railway line and about Jess kissing her lover in the morning sunshine.
”
”
Paula Hawkins (The Girl on the Train)
“
I’ve got her, now.” Jesus Christ said with full authority. “And there is nothing you can do about it. You've done enough. You are no longer allowed anywhere near her.”
“But, she’s my girl!” I blurt out, trying to own my property.
“No.” His words were like fire. “She is MY girl.
”
”
Sunshine Rodgers (After You)
“
Kelsey,” I instruct gently. “We helped you so you could continue the rescue mission... to be there for others in need. Always be on the lookout.”
Kelsey notices a girl crying in the corner. “You know what you need to do,” I whisper before disappearing completely from Kelsey's sight.
”
”
Sunshine Rodgers
“
It’s just after seven, it’s chilly out here now, but it’s so beautiful like this, all these strips of garden side by side, green and cold and waiting for fingers of sunshine to creep up from the tracks and make them all come alive. I’ve been up for hours; I can’t sleep. I haven’t slept
”
”
Paula Hawkins (The Girl on the Train)
“
You know I'm old in some ways--in others--well, I'm just a little girl. I like sunshine and pretty things and cheerfulness-- and I dread responsibility. I don't want to think about pots and kitchens and brooms. I want to worry whether my legs will get slick and brown when I swim in the summer.
”
”
F. Scott Fitzgerald (This Side of Paradise)
“
Before the war, I thanked God for things like my family, friends, and sunshine, but if something affected those blessings, I lamented my misfortune. I had the audacity to ask God why He let rain chase away my sunshine, as if a thunderstorm were the worst thing that could happen to a girl. But far worse things could happen to a girl: getting her entire family arrested, being interrogated by the Gestapo, having no power to present whatever lay ahead. All I had was rain, and I didn't know if the sunshine would ever return. So I'd find blessings amid the thunder and lightning.
[Maria Florkowska]
”
”
Gabriella Saab (The Last Checkmate)
“
But I also looked out the open window, letting my eyes roam over a large part of Amsterdam, over the rooftops and on to the horizon, a strip of blue so pale it was almost invisible. “As long as this exists,” I thought, “this sunshine and this cloudless sky, and as long as I can enjoy it, how can I be sad?
”
”
Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl)
“
People say fairy tales give girls a false perception of love, but I think they give you a false perception of life. Because, let's face it, reality is not always sunshine and rainbows. But I guess nobody wants to read the story about how the princess tries to move on with her life after her fairy tale ends.
”
”
Erica Cope (Pieces of Me)
“
California during the 1940s had Hollywood and the bright lights of Los Angeles, but on the other coast was Florida, land of sunshine and glamour, Miami and Miami Beach. If you weren't already near California's Pacific Coast you headed for Florida during the winter. One of the things which made Miami such a mix of glitter and sunshine was the plethora of movie stars who flocked there to play, rubbing shoulders with tycoons and gangsters. Sometimes it was hard to tell the difference between the latter two.
Miami and everything that surrounded it hadn't happened by accident. Carl Fisher had set out to make Miami Beach a playground destination during the 1930s and had succeeded far beyond his dreams. The promenade behind the Roney Plaza Hotel was a block-long lovers' lane of palm trees and promise that began rather than ended in the blue waters of the Atlantic.
Florida was more than simply Miami and Miami Beach, however. When George Merrick opened the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables papers across the country couldn't wait to gush about the growing aura of Florida. They tore down Collins Bridge in the Gables and replaced it with the beautiful Venetian Causeway. You could plop down a fiver if you had one and take your best girl — or the girl you wanted to score with — for a gondola ride there before the depression, or so I'd been told.
You see, I'd never actually been to Florida before the war, much less Miami. I was a newspaper reporter from Chicago before the war and had never even seen the ocean until I was flying over the Pacific for the Air Corp. There wasn't much time for admiring the waves when Japanese Zeroes were trying to shoot you out of the sky and bury you at the bottom of that deep blue sea.
It was because of my friend Pete that I knew so much about Miami. Florida was his home, so when we both got leave in '42 I followed him to the warm waters of Miami to see what all the fuss was about. It would be easy to say that I skipped Chicago for Miami after the war ended because Pete and I were such good pals and I'd had such a great time there on leave. But in truth I decided to stay on in Miami because of Veronica Lake.
I'd better explain that. Veronica Lake never knew she was the reason I came back with Pete to Miami after the war. But she had been there in '42 while Pete and I were enjoying the sand, sun, and the sweet kisses of more than a few love-starved girls desperate to remember what it felt like to have a man's arm around them — not to mention a few other sensations. Lake had been there promoting war bonds on Florida's first radio station, WQAM. It was a big outdoor event and Pete and I were among those listening with relish to Lake's sultry voice as she urged everyone to pitch-in for our boys overseas.
We were in those dark early days of the war at the time, and the outcome was very much in question. Lake's appearance at the event was a morale booster for civilians and servicemen alike. She was standing behind a microphone that sat on a table draped in the American flag. I'd never seen a Hollywood star up-close and though I liked the movies as much as any other guy, I had always attributed most of what I saw on-screen to smoke and mirrors. I doubted I'd be impressed seeing a star off-screen. A girl was a girl, after all, and there were loads of real dolls in Miami, as I'd already discovered. Boy, was I wrong." - Where Flamingos Fly
”
”
Bobby Underwood (Where Flamingos Fly (Nostalgic Crime #2))
“
So, what did you learn today, Bast?” “Today, master, I learned why great lovers have better eyesight than great scholars.” “And why is that, Bast?” Kote asked, amusement touching the edges of his voice. Bast closed the door and returned to sit in the second chair, turning it to face his teacher and the fire. He moved with a strange delicacy and grace, as if he were close to dancing. “Well Reshi, all the rich books are found inside where the light is bad. But lovely girls tend to be out in the sunshine and therefore much easier to study without risk of injuring one’s eyes.” Kote nodded. “But an exceptionally clever student could take a book out-side, thus bettering himself without fear of lessening his much-loved faculty of sight.” “I thought the same thing, Reshi. Being, of course, an exceptionally clever student.” “Of course.” “But when I found a place in the sun where I could read, a beautiful girl came along and kept me from doing anything of the sort,” Bast finished with a flourish. Kote sighed.
”
”
Patrick Rothfuss (The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1))
“
will have pity on us. Ah, then dear, dear Uncle, we shall see that bright and beautiful life; we shall rejoice and look back upon our sorrow here; a tender smile, and we shall rest. I have faith, Uncle, fervent, passionate faith. We shall rest. We shall rest. We shall hear the angels. We shall see heaven shining like a jewel. We shall see all evil and all our pain sink away in the great compassion that shall enfold the world. Our life will be as peaceful and tender and sweet as a caress. I have faith; I have faith. My poor, poor Uncle Vanya, you are crying! You have never known what happiness was, but wait, Uncle Vanya, wait! We shall rest. We shall rest. We shall rest.
”
”
Julianna Margulies (Sunshine Girl: An Unexpected Life)
“
Beautiful sunshine, cloudless skies, no one to play with, nothing to do. Living like this, the way I'm living at the moment, is harder in the summer when there is so much daylight, so little cover of darkness, when everyone is out and about, being flagrantly, aggressively happy. It's exhausting, and it makes you feel bad if you're not joining in.
”
”
Paula Hawkins (The Girl on the Train)
“
Beautiful sunshine, cloudless skies, no one to play with, nothing to do. Living like this, the way I'm living at the moment, is harder in the summer when there is so much daylight, so little cover of dark- ness, when everyone is out and about, being flagrantly, aggressively happy. It's exhausting, and it makes you feel bad if you're not joining in.
”
”
Paula Hawkins (The Girl on the Train)
“
I know that these things will never come back. I may see the rocks again, and smell the flowers, and watch the dawn sunshine chase the shadows from the old sulphuric-colored walls, but the light that sprang from the heightened consciousness of wartime, the glory seen by the enraptured ingenious eyes of twenty-two, will be upon them no more. I am a girl no longer, and the world, for all its excitements of chosen work and individualistic play, has grown tame in comparison with Malta during those years of our anguish.
It is, I think, this glamour, this magic, this incomparable keying up of the spirit in a time of mortal conflict, which constitute the pacifist’s real problem — a problem still incompletely imagined, and still quite unresolved. The causes of war are always falsely represented; its honour is dishonest and its glory meretricious, but the challenge to spiritual endurance, the intense sharpening of all the senses, the vitalising consciousness of common peril for a common end, remain to allure those boys and girls who have just reached the age when love and friendship and adventure call more persistently than at any later time. The glamour may be the mere delirium of fever, which as soon as war is over dies out and shows itself for the will-o’-the-wisp that it is, but while it lasts no emotion known to man seems as yet to have quite the compelling power of this enlarged vitality.
”
”
Vera Brittain (Testament of Youth)
“
But the delight of wading that clear mountain water, scrambling over rocks, or sitting on a boulder in the sunshine and gazing with dreaming eyes into the brown pebbled pools below, was enough joy without feeling the tug of a trout on the end of the line. Often we could see them in the sun-flecked depths below, quiet as shadows except for the occasional waving of a fin.
”
”
Carol Ryrie Brink (Four Girls on a Homestead (Local History Paper 3))
“
As long as this exists,” I thought, “this sunshine and this cloudless sky, and as long as I can enjoy it, how can I be sad?” The best remedy for those who are frightened, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere they can be alone, alone with the sky, nature and God. For then and only then can you feel that everything is as it should be and that God wants people to be happy amid nature’s beauty and simplicity. As long as this exists, and that should be forever, I know that there will be solace for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances. I firmly believe that nature can bring comfort to all who suffer. Oh, who knows, perhaps it won’t be long before I can share this overwhelming feeling of happiness with someone who feels the same as I do.
”
”
Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl)
“
Why, observe the thing; turn it over; hold it up to the window; count the beads, long, oval, like some seaweed bulbs, each an amulet. See the tint; it's very old; like clots of sunshine, aren't they? Now bring it near; see the carving, here corrugated, there faceted, now sculptured into hideous, tiny, heathen gods. You didn't notice that before! How difficult it must have been, when amber is so friable! Here's one with a chessboard on his back, and all his kings and queens and pawns slung round him. Here's another with a torch, a flaming torch, its fire pouring out inverted. They are grotesque enough; but this, this is matchless: such a miniature woman, one hand grasping the round rock behind, while she looks down into some gulf, perhaps, beneath, and will let herself fall. 0, you should see her with a magnifying-glass! You want to think of calm satisfying death, a mere exhalation, a voluntary slipping into another element? There it is for you. They are all gods and goddesses. They are all here but one; I've lost one, the knot of all, the love of the thing.
Well! Wasn't it queer for a Catholic girl to have at prayer?
”
”
Harriet Prescott Spofford (The Amber Gods and Other Stories)
“
Lou took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of just-cut flowers, fresh tamales from the food stands, and sunshine. She preferred the West Allis farmers' market to all others in the area, with its open sides, wide walkways, and rows of stalls. More recently, small tents serving hot sandwiches and fresh Mexican food had popped up outside the brick walls. It all looked so good, she'd learned long ago to come with limited funds or she would buy more produce than she could possibly use. She relished talking to the farmers, learning about what they grew and where. She liked to search for farmers growing something new and interesting she could use at Luella's.
But today's visit was personal, not business. Sue had dragged her out to West Allis for a little lunch and some girl time with fall squash and Honeycrisp apples.
”
”
Amy E. Reichert (The Coincidence of Coconut Cake)
“
As long as this exists,” I thought, “this sunshine and this cloudless sky, and as long as I can enjoy it, how can I be sad?” The best remedy for those who are frightened, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere they can be alone, alone with the sky, nature and God. For then and only then can you feel that everything is as it should be and that God wants people to be happy amid nature’s beauty and simplicity.
”
”
Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl)
“
Here are some of the things I learned while living in New York: That you shouldn’t interpret direct and efficient communication as rudeness. That a sidewalk operates by the same rules as a highway: if you walk slow, walk in the right lane, and if you have to stop, pull over. I learned that once the late June sunshine hits the streets, pretty girls in summer dresses come out of the woodwork. I also learned that summer brings with it the inescapable smell of marinating garbage and human urine. In the city, you can get weed delivered to your front door by a hipster on a bicycle or pick up a screwdriver in the dead of the night at a twenty-four-hour hardware store. I learned that the city has resilience like no other city during natural (or man-made) disasters, and that the people of New York generally coexist peacefully, which is impressive, considering there are 27,352 people per square mile.
”
”
Sari Botton (Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving New York)
“
As Karl Rossmann, a poor boy of sixteen who had been packed off to America by his parents because a servant girl had seduced him and got herself with child by him, stood on the liner slowly entering the harbour of New York, a sudden burst of sunshine seemed to illumine the Statue of Liberty, so that he saw it in a new light, although he had sighted it long before. The arm with the sword rose up as if newly stretched aloft, and round the figure blew the free winds of heaven.
”
”
Franz Kafka (Amerika)
“
I don’t see how Mummy’s idea can be right, because then how are you supposed to behave if you go through the misery yourself? Then you are lost. On the contrary, I’ve found that there is always some beauty left—in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you. Look at these things, then you find yourself again, and God, and then you regain your balance. And whoever is happy will make others happy too. He who has courage and faith will never perish in misery! Yours, Anne
”
”
Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl)
“
But don’t they have more sunshine here than they do in San Francisco? Don’t you have lots of fog?” “Fog!” the man exclaimed. “Why that’s the thing that makes San Francisco. When that fog comes rolling in from the ocean, it peps you up. It’s bracing, stimulating. There’s a lot of rush and bustle in connection with San Francisco. Down here, people seem to have the hookworm. You girls really don’t live here, do you?” “What makes you think we don’t?” Della said. “Too much class—too much pep.
”
”
Erle Stanley Gardner (The Case of the Crooked Candle (Perry Mason #24))
“
He crouched down, and carefully put his finger through the thorns into the round door of the nest.
"It's almost as if you were feeling inside the live body of the bird," he said...
After that, Miriam came to see it everyday. It seemed so close to her. Again, going down the hedge side with the girl, he noticed the celandines, scalloped slashes of gold, on the side of the ditch.
"I like them," he said, "when their petals go flat back with the sunshine. They seem to be pressing themselves at the sun.
”
”
D.H. Lawrence (Sons and Lovers)
“
Tuesday, 7 March, 1944
...
I don't think then of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains. This is one of the things that Mummy and I are so entirely different about. Her counsel when one feels melancholy is: "Think of all the misery in the world and be thankful that you are not sharing in it!" My advice is: "Go outside, to the fields, enjoy nature and the sunshine, go out and try to recapture happiness in yourself and in God. Think of all the beauty that's still left in and around you and be happy!"
I don't see how Mummy's idea can be right, because then how are you supposed to behave if you go through the misery yourself? Then you are lost. On the contrary, I've found that there is always some beauty left - in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you. Look at these things, then you find yourself again, and God, and then you regain your balance.
And whoever is happy will make others happy too. He who has courage and faith will never perish in misery!
Yours, Anne
”
”
Anne Frank (Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl)
“
Logan felt like Icarus. He had never felt so free and blissfully alive as he did whenever he was with her. The closer he got to her the higher and happier he felt. Even at the mention of her name his heart would pound incessantly and all the giddy feelings he didn’t quite understand would suddenly reemerge. Every glance upon her blinding beauty cast a shadow upon every other girl for him. Everyone else paled in comparison to her. With every passing moment he had somehow discovered something new and exciting about her. With her by his side he could feel the light breeze flapping against his sides and the warmth of sunshine beating down on his handsome face. This is what it meant to be truly awake. This is what it meant to be in love.
But just like Icarus he had gotten too close and had crashed and burned. As he lay crippled in the aftermath of his own destruction he wondered what hurt more the aching pangs of physical pain his body had been subjected to or the raw burning sensation he felt in his heart. He had gladly given her his heart and in return she threw it back in pieces claiming it wasn’t enough. That he wasn’t enough.
”
”
Ali Harper (Breaking Bedlam (Beautiful Bedlam #2))
“
Okay, I'll stop, but if anything happens, just ask yourself, WELSD?"
"Mom-"
"No, I mean it. anytime you get into a hairy situation, ask yourself: What would Lisbeth Salander do?" She gave her daughter a minute, then prompted her. "Well?"
"After a heavy sigh, Auri replied. "She'd stab a bitch."
"Exactly. And if that doesn't work?"
Another sigh. "She'd set a bitch on fire."
Precisely. And if that doesn't work?"
"Mom," Auri whined, shifting in her seat.
"If that doesn't work?"
"Fine. She'd eviscerate a bitch's online presence and get him or her sent to prison for kiddie porn.
”
”
Darynda Jones (A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram, #1))
“
...an image of a great agony -- the agony of the Cross. It has stood perhaps by the clustering apple-blossoms, or in the broad sunshine by the cornfield, or at a turning by the wood where a clear brook was gurgling below; and surely, if there came a traveller to this world who knew nothing of the story of man's life upon it, this image of agony would seem to him strangely out of place in this joyous nature. He would not know that hidden behind the apple-blossoms, or among the golden corn, or under the shrouding boughs of the wood, there might be a human heart beating heavily with anguish -- perhaps a young blooming girl, not knowing where to turn for refuge from swift-advancing shame, understanding no more of this life of ours than a foolish lost lamb wandering farther and farther in the nightfall on the lonely heath, yet tasting the bitterest of life's bitterness.
Such things are sometimes hidden among the sunny fields and behind the blossoming orchards; and the sound of the gurgling brook, if you came close to one spot behinda small bush, would be mingled for your ear with a despairing human sob. No wonder mans religion has much sorrow in it: no wonder he needs a suffering God.
”
”
George Eliot (Adam Bede)
“
How on earth was this woman a spinster? She was an earl's daughter, surely possessed of a large dowry. If none of the title-hungry, debt-ridden layabouts in Mayfair had seen fit to propose marriage, simple logic dictated there must be something remarkably off-putting about her. An unbearably grating voice, perhaps. A snaggletooth, or poor personal hygiene.
But she displayed none of those features. She was young and pretty, with no detectable odor. Her teeth were a string of pearls, and she had a voice like sunshine. There was nothing off-putting about her whatsoever. She was... on-putting, in every way.
”
”
Tessa Dare (The Wallflower Wager (Girl Meets Duke, #3))
“
Her heart is racing, blood pulsing fast beneath my finger, and she’s taking these tiny sharp breaths. It turns me on in a way I don’t even understand. Normally, the skittish, inexperienced types send me running. But the thought of teaching her anything makes my jeans feel too tight. I want her on her back in my bed, legs spread wide, eyes big and blue, lips parted, mouth babbling that nervous nonsense until I make her forget what she’s saying, forget how to talk altogether. I want to forget myself in her, too, steal some of her sunshine, and give this pristine, perfect girl a taste of what it’s like to get a little dirty.
”
”
Cora Carmack (All Broke Down (Rusk University, #2))
“
the mountains are so beautiful." She had said that last night looking out of the window with tears in her eyes. "The mountains are so beautiful." Her father was dying there, Mrs. Ramsay knew. He was leaving them fatherless. Scolding and demonstrating (how to make a bed, how to open a window, with hands that shut and spread like a Frenchwoman's) all had folded itself quietly about her, when the girl spoke, as, after a flight through the sunshine the wings of a bird fold themselves quietly and the blue of its plumage changes from bright steel to soft purple. She had stood there silent for there was nothing to be said. He had cancer of the throat. At the recollection--how she had stood there, how the girl had said, "At home the mountains are so beautiful," and there was no hope, no hope whatever,
”
”
Virginia Woolf (To the Lighthouse)
“
It’s so cute, isn’t it?” Arianna said dreamily.
“Are we seeing the same creature? It’s like a demented goat with a bone growth.”
“You’re going to hurt its feelings! Now shut up and sit on the ground.”
I did as I was told, sticking my ankle out. “How is it going to heal me?” I asked, suddenly nervous. I pictured it licking my ankle and gagged. I could only imagine the diseases unicorn saliva had or what it carried around in its filthy, matted beard and hair.
Bleating reproachfully, it stared at me with its doleful, square-pupiled brown eyes.
“Oh, fine. Great, glorious unicorn, beloved of oblivious girls everywhere, please heal me. Now, if you don’t mind.”
With one last bat of its gunk-crusted eyelashes, it lowered its head and put its stubby horn against my ankle. I cringed, waiting for pain, but felt instead tingling warmth spread out, almost like having butterflies in my stomach. Only in my ankle. Butterflies . . . with rainbows.
The feeling of wholeness and well-being spread up my leg and into my entire body, and I couldn’t stop grinning. The forest was beautiful! The tree branches, naked against the brightening sky, held unimaginable wonders. The hard-packed dirt beneath me was a treasure trove of unrealized potential, lovely for what it could eventually give life to. I could sit out here forever and just enjoy nature. I was so happy! And rainbows! Why did I keep thinking of rainbows? Who cared! Rainbows were totally awesome!
And the unicorn! I beamed at it, reaching out my hand to stroke it. There was never a creature more beautiful, more majestic. I’d spend the rest of my life out here, and we’d prance around the forest, worship the sunlight, bathe in the moonlight, and . . .
I shook my head, scattering the idiotic warm fuzzies that had invaded. “Whoa,” I said, shoving the unicorn’s head away. “That’s enough of that.” I looked down at my ankle, which was now completely healed, not even a scar left. I fixed a stern look on the unicorn. “I am not going to frolic in an eternal meadow of sunshine and moonlight with you, you rotten little fink. But thanks.” I smiled, just enough to be nice without being too encouraging, and patted it quickly on the head.
I was going to soak that hand in bleach.
“Okay, let’s get out of here.” I stood, testing my ankle and relieved with the utter lack of pain. I still had an irrational desire to do an interpretive dance about rainbows, but it was a small price to pay for being healed.
”
”
Kiersten White (Endlessly (Paranormalcy, #3))
“
If, in the further reaches of some or another remote corridor in an immense house of two or, perhaps, three storeys, and behind some or another door that remains mostly closed but in sight of a window overlooking some or another tract of far-reaching landscape of mostly level grassy countryside with low hills or a line of trees in the distance, a certain man at his desk, on some or another day of sunshine with scattered clouds, were to spurn the predictable words and phrases of the many writers of fiction who have reported of this or that male character that he once fell in love with this or that female character, and if that same man, after striving as neither I, the author of this sentence, nor even the most discerning reader of the sentence, have or has striven nor will ever strive, in late afternoon, and at about the time when the rays of the declining sun might have caused the pane in the window of his room to seem to a traveller on a distant road like a spot of golden oil, had found in his heart, or wherever such things are to be found, the words best fitted to suggest what he seemed to have felt long before, on a certain hot afternoon, in a distant inland city, and whether he had simply kept those words in mind or whether he had actually written them, either as notes for a work of fiction that he might one day write or as part of an actual work of fiction, then I do not doubt that the words would have been to the effect that a certain boy, a mere child, while he watched unobserved a certain girl, a mere child, whose name he did not know and who had almost certainly never had sight of him, wished for the means to inform her that he was worthy of trust.
”
”
Gerald Murnane (A Million Windows)
“
By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' lazy at the sea,
There's a Burma girl a-settin', and I know she thinks o' me;
For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the temple-bells they say:
"Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay!"
Come you back to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay:
Can't you 'ear their paddles chunkin' from Rangoon to Mandalay ?
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!
'Er petticoat was yaller an' 'er little cap was green,
An' 'er name was Supi-yaw-lat - jes' the same as Theebaw's Queen,
An' I seed her first a-smokin' of a whackin' white cheroot,
An' a-wastin' Christian kisses on an 'eathen idol's foot:
Bloomin' idol made o' mud
Wot they called the Great Gawd Budd
Plucky lot she cared for idols when I kissed 'er where she stud!
On the road to Mandalay...
When the mist was on the rice-fields an' the sun was droppin' slow,
She'd git 'er little banjo an' she'd sing "Kulla-lo-lo!
With 'er arm upon my shoulder an' 'er cheek agin my cheek
We useter watch the steamers an' the hathis pilin' teak.
Elephints a-pilin' teak
In the sludgy, squdgy creek,
Where the silence 'ung that 'eavy you was 'arf afraid to speak!
On the road to Mandalay...
But that's all shove be'ind me - long ago an' fur away
An' there ain't no 'busses runnin' from the Bank to Mandalay;
An' I'm learnin' 'ere in London what the ten-year soldier tells:
"If you've 'eard the East a-callin', you won't never 'eed naught else."
No! you won't 'eed nothin' else
But them spicy garlic smells,
An' the sunshine an' the palm-trees an' the tinkly temple-bells;
On the road to Mandalay...
I am sick o' wastin' leather on these gritty pavin'-stones,
An' the blasted English drizzle wakes the fever in my bones;
Tho' I walks with fifty 'ousemaids outer Chelsea to the Strand,
An' they talks a lot o' lovin', but wot do they understand?
Beefy face an' grubby 'and -
Law! wot do they understand?
I've a neater, sweeter maiden in a cleaner, greener land!
On the road to Mandalay...
Ship me somewheres east of Suez, where the best is like the worst,
Where there aren't no Ten Commandments an' a man can raise a thirst;
For the temple-bells are callin', an' it's there that I would be
By the old Moulmein Pagoda, looking lazy at the sea;
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay,
With our sick beneath the awnings when we went to Mandalay!
O the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay !
”
”
Rudyard Kipling (Mandalay)
“
You need some help, Rosie?”
His footsteps quicken behind me, and before I can respond, I feel his calloused hands on my waist. I accidently slide back against his chest and inhale the scent that has always clung to his whole family—something like forests, damp leaves, and sunshine. I suppose when your father is a woodsman you’re bound to carry the scent of oak in your veins. One breath is all I get the chance for, though; he kicks the door open and sets me down on the front stoop, then takes a step back. I turn to face him, hoping to thank him for the help and in the same sentence admonish him for carrying me like a little girl.
Instead, I smile. He’s still Silas—Silas who left a year ago, the boy just a little older than my sister. His eyes are still sparkling and expressive, hair still the brown-black color of pine bark, body broad-shouldered and a little too willowy for his features. He’s still there, but it’s as if someone new has been layered on top of him. Someone older and stronger who isn’t looking a me as if I’m Scarlett’s kid sister . . . someone who makes me feel dizzy and quivery. How did this happen?
Calm down. It’s just Silas. Sort of.
“You’re staring,” he says cautiously, looking worried.
“Oh. Um, sorry,” I say, shaking my head. Silas shoves his hands into his pockets with a familiar sway. “It’s just been a while, that’s all.”
“Yeah, no kidding. You’re heavier than I remember.”
I frown, mortified.
“Oh, no, wait. I didn’t mean it like that, just that you’ve gotten older. Wait, that doesn’t sound much better . . .” Silas runs a hand through his hair and curses under his breath.
“No, I get it.” I let him off the hook, grinning. Something about seeing him nervous thaws some of my shyness.
”
”
Jackson Pearce (Sisters Red (Fairytale Retellings, #1))
“
It's often said that life is short. But life is also simultaneous, all of our experiences existing in time together, in the flesh. For what are we, if not a body taking a mind for a walk, just to see what's there? And, in the end, where do we get to, if not back to a beginning that we've never really left behind? Time present and time past / Are both perhaps present in time future / And time future contained in time past. It is all, according to T.S. Eliot, the same thing. I am a girl and I am a dying woman. My body is my journey, the truest record of all I have done and seen, the site of all my joys and heartbreaks, of all my misapprehensions and blinding insights. if I feel the need to relive the journey it is all there written in runes on my body. Even my cells remember it, all that sunshine I bathed in as a child, too much as it turned out. In my beginning is my end.
”
”
Cory Taylor (Dying: A Memoir)
“
This is one of the things that Mummy and I are so entirely different about. Her counsel when one feels melancholy is: “Think of all the misery in the world and be thankful that you are not sharing in it!” My advice is: “Go outside, to the fields, enjoy Nature and the sunshine, go out and try to recapture happiness in yourself and in God. Think of all the beauty that’s still left in and around you and be happy!” I don’t see how Mummy’s idea can be right, because then how are you supposed to behave if you go through the misery yourself? Then you are lost. On the contrary, I’ve found that there is always some beauty left—in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you. Look at these things, then you find yourself again, and God, and then you regain your balance. And whoever is happy will make others happy too. He who has courage and faith will never perish in misery!
”
”
Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl)
“
Oh, are you doing magic? Let’s see it, then.’ She sat down. Ron looked taken aback. ‘Er – all right.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow.’ He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed grey and fast asleep. ‘Are you sure that’s a real spell?’ said the girl. ‘Well, it’s not very good, is it? I’ve tried a few simple spells just for practice and it’s all worked for me. Nobody in my family’s magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it’s the very best school of witchcraft there is, I’ve heard – I’ve learnt all our set books off by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough – I’m Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?’ She said all this very fast. Harry looked at Ron and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn’t learnt all the set books off by heart either.
”
”
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter, #1))
“
We don’t know when the first star exploded, or when the sun caught on fire. We don’t know when the sun will stop burning and turn cold and dark, though we know it will.
In between the fire and the cold, life beginning and ending, Laura, sometime after being born and before dying, plays a game and talks to a sister who has never existed, while Frank tells a little girl named Whitney a story about the life and death of a dog, a story that he sometimes believes while telling it.
In the cities of the Sonoran Desert, the sunshine follows you into the shade. When you drink water anywhere, however pure the water, you’re drinking the piss of dinosaurs. The volume of water in this world has never varied. Nothing comes or goes, increases or decreases.
On a speck of dust in what they call the universe, David and Frank search for Laura, and Laura searches for David and Frank. La Llorona searches for her children. Whitney wants to not be sad. All of them search for love.
”
”
Barry Graham (When it all Comes Down to Dust)
“
She would go into the maids' bedrooms at night and find them sealed like ovens, except for Marie's, the Swiss girl, who would rather go without a bath than without fresh air, but then at home, she had said, "the mountains are so beautiful."
She had said that last night looking out of the window with tears in her eyes.
The mountains are so beautiful.
Her father was dying there, Mrs Ramsay knew.
He was leaving them fatherless.
Scolding and demonstrating (how to make a bed, how to open a window, with hands that shut and spread like a Frenchwoman's) all had folded itself quietly about her, when the girl spoke, as, after a flight through the sunshine the wings of a bird fold themselves quietly and the blue of its plumage changes from bright steel to soft purple.
She had stood there silent for there was nothing to be said.
He had cancer of the throat.
At the recolection—how she had stood there, how the girl had said, "At home the mountains are so beautiful," and there was no hope, no hope whatever...
”
”
Virginia Woolf (To the Lighthouse)
“
Great writers and my mom never used food as an object. Instead it was a medium, a catalyst to mend hearts, to break down barriers, to build relationships. Mom's cooking fed body and soul. She used to quip, "If the food is good, there's no need to talk about the weather." That was my mantra for years---food as meal and conversation, a total experience.
I leaned my forehead against the glass and thought again about Emma and the arrowroot. Mom had highlighted it in my sophomore English class. "Jane Fairfax knew it was given with a selfish heart. Emma didn't care about Jane, she just wanted to appear benevolent."
"That girl was stupid. She was poor and should've accepted the gift." The football team had hooted for their spokesman.
"That girl's name was Jane Fairfax, and motivation always matters." Mom's glare seared them.
I tried to remember the rest of the lesson, but couldn't. I think she assigned a paper, and the football team stopped chuckling.
Another memory flashed before my eyes. It was from that same spring; Mom was baking a cake to take to a neighbor who'd had a knee replacement.
"We don't have enough chocolate." I shut the cabinet door.
"We're making an orange cake, not chocolate."
"Chocolate is so much better."
"Then we're lucky it's not for you. Mrs. Conner is sad and she hurts and it's spring. The orange cake will not only show we care, it'll bring sunshine and spring to her dinner tonight. She needs that."
"It's just a cake."
"It's never just a cake, Lizzy."
I remembered the end of that lesson: I rolled my eyes----Mom loathed that----and received dish duty. But it turned out okay; the batter was excellent.
I shoved the movie reel of scenes from my head. They didn't fit in my world. Food was the object. Arrowroot was arrowroot. Cake was cake. And if it was made with artisan dark chocolate and vanilla harvested by unicorns, all the better. People would crave it, order it, and pay for it. Food wasn't a metaphor---it was the commodity---and to couch it in other terms was fatuous. The one who prepared it best won.
”
”
Katherine Reay (Lizzy and Jane)
“
If I tell these little histories now, it is because they conjure a feeling of what it was like to be me back then, the same but different, the body still growing up and out into the world instead of contracting and retreating from it. It’s often said that life is short. But life is also simultaneous, all of our experiences existing in time together, in the flesh. For what are we, if not a body taking a mind for a walk, just to see what’s there? And, in the end, where do we get to, if not back to a beginning that we’ve never really left behind? Time present and time past / Are both perhaps present in time future / And time future contained in time past. It is all, according to T. S. Eliot, the same thing. I am a girl and I am a dying woman. My body is my journey, the truest record of all I have done and seen, the site of all my joys and heartbreaks, of all my misapprehensions and blinding insights. If I feel the need to relive the journey it is all there written in runes on my body. Even my cells remember it, all that sunshine I bathed in as a child, too much as it turned out. In my beginning is my end.
”
”
Cory Taylor (Dying: A Memoir)
“
What do you think? he asked.
Go slowly, so that you do not bite your tail by accident.
He agreed with her, then, feeling impish, asked, And have you ever done that? Bitten your tail, I mean?
She remained silently aloof, but he caught a brief flash of sensations: a medley of images--trees, grass, sunshine, the mountains of the Spine--as well as the cloying scent of red orchids and a sudden painful, pinching sensation, as if a door had slammed shut on her tail.
Eragon chuckled quietly to himself, then concentrated on composing the spells he thought he would need to heal the girl. It took quite a while, almost a half hour. He and Saphira spent most of that time going over the arcane sentences again and again, examining and debating every word and phrase--and even his pronunciation--in an attempt to ensure that the spells would do what he intended and nothing more.
In the midst of their silent conversation, Gertrude shifted in her seat and said, “She looks the same as ever. The work goes badly, doesn’t it? There is no need to hide the truth from me, Eragon; I have dealt with far worse in my day.”
Eragon raised his eyebrows and, in a mild voice, said, “The work has not yet begun.”
And Gertrude sank back, subdued.
”
”
Christopher Paolini (Inheritance (The Inheritance Cycle, #4))
“
Alice's Cutie Code TM Version 2.1 - Colour Expansion Pack
(aka Because this stuff won’t stop being confusing and my friends are mean edition)
From Red to Green, with all the colours in between (wait, okay, that rhymes, but green to red makes more sense. Dang.)
From Green to Red, with all the colours in between
Friend Sampling Group: Fennie, Casey, Logan, Aisha and Jocelyn
Green
Friends’ Reaction: Induces a minimum amount of warm and fuzzies. If you don’t say “aw”, you’re “dead inside”
My Reaction: Sort of agree with friends minus the “dead inside” but because that’s a really awful thing to say. Puppies are a good example. So is Walter Bishop.
Green-Yellow
Friends’ Reaction: A noticeable step up from Green warm and fuzzies. Transitioning from cute to slightly attractive. Acceptable crush material. “Kissing.”
My Reaction: A good dance song. Inspirational nature photos. Stuff that makes me laugh. Pairing: Madison and Allen from splash
Yellow
Friends’ Reaction: Something that makes you super happy but you don’t know why. “Really pretty, but not too pretty.” Acceptable dating material. People you’d want to “bang on sight.”
My Reaction: Love songs for sure! Cookies for some reason or a really good meal. Makes me feel like it’s possible to hold sunshine, I think. Character: Maxon from the selection series. Music: Carly Rae Jepsen
Yellow-Orange
Friends’ Reaction: (When asked for non-sexual examples, no one had an answer. From an objective perspective, *pushes up glasses* this is the breaking point. Answers definitely skew toward romantic or sexual after this.)
My Reaction: Something that really gets me in my feels. Also art – oil paintings of landscapes in particular. (What is with me and scenery? Maybe I should take an art class) Character: Dean Winchester. Model: Liu Wren.
Orange
Friends’ Reaction: “So pretty it makes you jealous. Or gay.”
“Definitely agree about the gay part. No homo, though. There’s just some really hot dudes out there.”(Feenie’s side-eye was so intense while the others were answering this part LOLOLOLOLOL.) A really good first date with someone you’d want to see again.
My Reaction: People I would consider very beautiful. A near-perfect season finale. I’ve also cried at this level, which was interesting.
o Possible tie-in to romantic feels? Not sure yet.
Orange-Red
Friends’ Reaction: “When lust and love collide.” “That Japanese saying ‘koi no yokan.’ It’s kind of like love at first sight but not really. You meet someone and you know you two have a future, like someday you’ll fall in love. Just not right now.” (<-- I like this answer best, yes.) “If I really, really like a girl and I’m interested in her as a person, guess. I’d be cool if she liked the same games as me so we could play together.”
My Reaction: Something that gives me chills or has that time-stopping factor. Lots of staring. An extremely well-decorated room. Singers who have really good voices and can hit and hold superb high notes, like Whitney Houston. Model: Jasmine Tooke. Paring: Abbie and Ichabod from Sleepy Hollow
o Romantic thoughts? Someday my prince (or princess, because who am I kidding?) will come?
Red (aka the most controversial code)
Friends’ Reaction: “Panty-dropping levels” (<-- wtf Casey???).
“Naked girls.” ”Ryan. And ripped dudes who like to cook topless.”
“K-pop and anime girls.” (<-- Dear. God. The whole table went silent after he said that. Jocelyn was SO UNCOMFORTABLE but tried to hide it OMG it was bad. Fennie literally tried to slap some sense into him.)
My Reaction: Uncontrollable staring. Urge to touch is strong, which I must fight because not everyone is cool with that. There may even be slack-jawed drooling involved. I think that’s what would happen. I’ve never seen or experienced anything that I would give Red to.
”
”
Claire Kann (Let's Talk About Love)
“
Mama made the coach stop at a barber shop around the corner from their house. 'Go in there,' she told Francie, 'and get your father’s cup.' Francie didn't know what she meant. 'What cup?' she asked. 'Just ask for his cup.' Francie went in. There were two barbers but no customers. One of the barbers sat on one of the chairs in a row against the wall. His left ankle rested on his right knee and he cradled a mandolin. He was playing 'O, Sole Mio.' Francie knew the song. Mr. Morton had taught it to them saying the title was 'Sunshine.' The other barber was sitting in one of the barber chairs looking at himself in the long mirror. He got down from the chair as the girl came in. 'Yes?' he asked. 'I want my father’s cup.' 'The name?' 'John Nolan.' 'Ah, yes. Too bad.' He sighed as he took a mug from the row of them on a shelf. It was a thick white mug with 'John Nolan' written on it in gold and fancy block letters. There was a worn-down cake of white soap at the bottom of it and a tired-looking brush. He pried out the soap and put it and the brush in a bigger unlettered cup. He washed Johnny’s cup. While Francie waited, she looked around. She had never been inside a barber shop. It smelled of soap and clean towels and bay rum. There was a gas heater which hissed companionably. The barber had finished the song and started it over again. The thin tinkle of the mandolin made a sad sound in the warm shop. Francie sang Mr. Morton’s words to the song in her mind. Oh, what’s so fine, dear, As a day of sunshine. The storm is past at last. The sky is blue and clear. Everyone has a secret life, she mused.
”
”
Betty Smith
“
Harvey wanted to dive into his ugliness; he intentionally reached for those long hours of soul desolation. He waited. He paced, ready to face down whatever was to come.
Paulette’s, though, busted loose uninvited, catching her completely off guard when she was already hurting, feeling crumbled, and vulnerable. When all she really wanted was some quiet gentle feelings for a change. A few flowers. Some sunshine. A way out of all that inner torment for even just a moment.
Had she had brought only nastiness out of her childhood? Hadn’t there been anything sweet she could remember instead?
As she wandered back to her cabin, searching for even a single fond memory, light faded everywhere around her.
Aw, c’mon, she thought. Everyone had some happy childhood memories. She had to have at least a couple.
How about the coloring? Children enjoy coloring; how about that? She’d spent hours and days on her art. It was as close as she could remember to having her Mamma stand over her with anything even remotely resembling approval. Her books and comics could be tales of Jesus, but coloring books had to be Old Testament because “No child’s impure hand could touch a crayon to the sweet beautiful face of our beloved Lord and savior Christ Jesus.”
So the little girl had scrunched down over Daniel in the lion’s den. Samson screaming in rage, pain, and terror as they blinded him with daggers and torches. The redder she made the flowing wounds of a man of God shot full of arrows, the richer the flames around those three men being burned in an iron box, the longer Mamma let her stay out of that closet.
- From “The Gardens of Ailana
”
”
Edward Fahey (The Gardens of Ailana)
“
Ma was heavy, but not fat; thick with childbearing and work. She wore a loose Mother Hubbard2 of gray cloth in which there had once been colored flowers, but the color was washed out now, so that the small flowered pattern was only a little lighter gray than the background. The dress came down to her ankles, and her strong, broad, bare feet moved quickly and deftly over the floor. Her thin, steel-gray hair was gathered in a sparse wispy knot at the back of her head. Strong, freckled arms were bare to the elbow, and her hands were chubby and delicate, like those of a plump little girl. She looked out into the sunshine. Her full face was not soft; it was controlled, kindly. Her hazel eyes seemed to have experienced all possible tragedy and to have mounted pain and suffering like steps into a high calm and a superhuman understanding. She seemed to know, to accept, to welcome her position, the citadel of the family, the strong place that could not be taken. And since old Tom and the children could not know hurt or fear unless she acknowledged hurt and fear, she had practiced denying them in herself. And since, when a joyful thing happened, they looked to see whether joy was on her, it was her habit to build up laughter out of inadequate materials. But better than joy was calm. Imperturbability could be depended upon. And from her great and humble position in the family she had taken dignity and a clean calm beauty. From her position as healer, her hands had grown sure and cool and quiet; from her position as arbiter she had become as remote and faultless in judgment as a goddess. She seemed to know that if she swayed the family shook, and if she ever really deeply wavered or despaired the family would fall, the family will to function would be gone.
”
”
John Steinbeck (The Grapes of Wrath)
“
... in sunshine both space and time expand
where was I? coming alive on my birthday
breaking to pieces on the rainbow islands
and who is she? a girl today
staying and straying on the rainbow islands
from a sunlit sea
see mountaintop to mountaintop arising
hear the crackle of rocks
in the bright light that falls
everywhere into place
forget your knees
to the breathlessness of peaks
and find them again by some pebbles
… seize me, release me, leave me
everywhere in space to be dispersing
and the colors of the wind parade
on the windswept way of the senses…
crunching over the rough-country cliffs
a cold drizzle begins—
inhale huge drafts
of water in the air
sizzle to the sprinkling feeling
of drizzle on skin
watch the surf pour
to crevices it has worn, hold—
and back out the black rock pushing
… whisk her, brisker, drop her
swifter over the crags like swift rains
and the rainclouds and the fierce winds howl
after the raging of the waves…
and to know every foot
of the land that holds you—
and, with soiled-brown hands,
set against the green of the land
and blue of the sky
sign the earth in gentle, rolling lines
loose with your tines
the living, pulsing root
of a carrot plant
bury the plants
in their beds to live
and bury me insensibly
over the earth from your open, rolling cart
lying on rock, drifting with the clouds
— the only constant is constant change—
ripples of flame, patterns in the waves
— paradise and creation are only sensations—
spearing reef-fish, inflating with the stars
— and heaven and earth forever simultaneous!
and the wheeling colors celebrate
on their way without a destination
wandering islands roam until they die—
with footsteps wrapt and dwelling
in whatever kind of weather
we live our lives with the space to be free
find in our eyes horizons on horizons
”
”
Mark Kaplon (The Windswept Verses)
“
last sixteen years Aidan’s detected a shift among spirits. He doesn’t know what it means yet, but he’s certain there’s a pattern.” “What kind of pattern?” “Dark spirits and demons are growing stronger.” I bet Nolan could have helped figure out the pattern. I can only imagine how different all of this would be if he had been here with me since the beginning, performing research for Aidan, trying just as hard as Aidan to find answers. Maybe he would have even found some. “Can you sense the demon?” he asks. I nod. Lucio stops dead in his tracks. Despite the flames growing ever higher around us, Lucio and I feel a cool breeze coming from down the road. Lucio starts walking in the direction of the chill, and I follow, placing my feet in the dusty footprints his steps leave behind. Even though he’s not much taller than I am, his feet are bigger than mine, and I feel like a little kid every time I place one of my sneakers in the spot where his dust-covered boot was seconds before. Lucio’s wearing shorts, and instead of looking at where we’re going, I’m watching the muscles in his calves flex and release with each step. He certainly looks strong enough to confront a demon. When he stops, I practically crash into him. “In there,” Lucio whispers, nodding in the direction of a squat stucco building on our left. It’s so small that it can’t possibly have more than one room. An icy breeze blows its splintered wooden door open, bringing a wall of smoke along with it, despite the fact that it’s the only building in sight that isn’t actually on fire. The door bangs against the tiny building with a loud crash as goose bumps rise on my sweaty skin. “Why did the demon choose this town?” I ask. “These people are completely helpless.” “Exactly,” Lucio says. “The same way we gather strength from helping spirits move on, a demon gathers strength from destroying spirits.” Despite the breeze coming from the darkness just a few steps away, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so hot. Somewhere inside
”
”
Paige McKenzie (The Awakening of Sunshine Girl (The Haunting of Sunshine Girl, #2))
“
Ah, you don’t comprehend, friend John. Do not think that I am not sad, though I laugh. See, I have cried even when the laugh did choke me. But no more think that I am all sorry when I cry, for the laugh he come just the same. Keep it always with you that laughter who knock at your door and say, ‘May I come in?’ is not the true laughter. No! he is a king, and he come when and how he like. He ask no person; he choose no time of suitability.
He say, ‘I am here.’ Behold, in example I grieve my heart out for that so sweet young girl; I give my blood for her, though I am old and worn; I give my time, my skill, my sleep; I let my other sufferers want that so she may have all. And yet I can laugh at her very grave—laugh when the clay from the spade of the sexton drop upon her coffin and say ‘Thud! thud!’ to my heart, till it send back the blood from my cheek. My heart bleed for that poor boy—that dear boy, so of the age of mine own boy had I been so blessed that he live, and with his hair and eyes the same. There, you know now why I love him so.
And yet when he say things that touch my husband-heart to the quick, and make my father-heart yearn to him as to no other man—not even to you, friend John, for we are more level in experiences than father and son—yet even at such moment King Laugh he come to me and shout and bellow in my ear, ‘Here I am! here I am!’ till the blood come dance back and bring some of the sunshine that he carry with him to my cheek. Oh, friend John, it is a strange world, a sad world, a world full of miseries, and woes, and troubles; and yet when King Laugh come he make them all dance to the tune he play.
Bleeding hearts, and dry bones of the churchyard, and tears that burn as they fall—all dance together to the music that he make with that smileless mouth of him. And believe me, friend John, that he is good to come, and kind. Ah, we men and women are like ropes drawn tight with strain that pull us different ways. Then tears come; and, like the rain on the ropes, they brace us up, until perhaps the strain become too great, and we break. But King Laugh he come like the sunshine, and he ease off the strain again; and we bear to go on with our labour, what it may be.
”
”
Bram Stoker
“
On quitting Bretton, which I did a few weeks after Paulina’s departure—little thinking then I was never again to visit it; never more to tread its calm old streets—I betook myself home, having been absent six months. It will be conjectured that I was of course glad to return to the bosom of my kindred. Well! the amiable conjecture does no harm, and may therefore be safely left uncontradicted. Far from saying nay, indeed, I will permit the reader to picture me, for the next eight years, as a bark slumbering through halcyon weather, in a harbour still as glass—the steersman stretched on the little deck, his face up to heaven, his eyes closed: buried, if you will, in a long prayer. A great many women and girls are supposed to pass their lives something in that fashion; why not I with the rest? Picture me then idle, basking, plump, and happy, stretched on a cushioned deck, warmed with constant sunshine, rocked by breezes indolently soft. However, it cannot be concealed that, in that case, I must somehow have fallen overboard, or that there must have been wreck at last. I too well remember a time—a long time—of cold, of danger, of contention. To this hour, when I have the nightmare, it repeats the rush and saltness of briny waves in my throat, and their icy pressure on my lungs. I even know there was a storm, and that not of one hour nor one day. For many days and nights neither sun nor stars appeared; we cast with our own hands the tackling out of the ship; a heavy tempest lay on us; all hope that we should be saved was taken away. In fine, the ship was lost, the crew perished. As far as I recollect, I complained to no one about these troubles. Indeed, to whom could I complain? Of Mrs. Bretton I had long lost sight. Impediments, raised by others, had, years ago, come in the way of our intercourse, and cut it off. Besides, time had brought changes for her, too: the handsome property of which she was left guardian for her son, and which had been chiefly invested in some joint-stock undertaking, had melted, it was said, to a fraction of its original amount. Graham, I learned from incidental rumours, had adopted a profession; both he and his mother were gone from Bretton, and were understood to be now in London. Thus, there remained no possibility of dependence on others; to myself alone could I look. I know not that I was of a self-reliant or active nature; but self-reliance and exertion were forced upon me by circumstances, as they are upon thousands besides; and when Miss Marchmont, a maiden lady of our neighbourhood, sent for me, I obeyed her behest, in the hope that she might assign me some task I could undertake.
”
”
Charlotte Brontë (Villette)
“
I couldn't stop staring at her; she looked different from other girls. It was weird, but I remember thinking that she looked like sunshine. Maybe it was her energy or something.
”
”
Melanie Ting (Hockey Is My Boyfriend (Part One))
“
Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow.” He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep. “Are you sure that’s a real spell?” said the girl. “Well, it’s not very good, is it?
”
”
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter, #1))
“
A girl grew up in a field. Well, in a house, with her family, but the house was surrounded by stalks of wheat as tall as saplings. The girl’s earliest memories are framed in breeze-blown green and gold. Ice and moonlight, sunshine and monsoon, the wheat was there, tickling her, tipping ladybirds and other pets into her lap
”
”
Helen Oyeyemi (Gingerbread)
“
The Witch immediately grabs Sunshine with her claws. “I occupy this home! This house is under a new regime... it's Beelzebub's territory!”
“Guess again,” Hope says, pointing to the girls praying. “We reclaim this house under a new leadership!”
“No!! Wait!! No!” The witch screams as Helpers come in to drag her away.
”
”
Sunshine Rodgers (Helpers: A Rescue Mission)
“
This was not the Little Miss Sunshine they were accustomed to working with, and Imogen could understand how this would freeze even the least adult of adults that Imogen had ever known. But Jo must have hit her limits when she caught sight of a girl sobbing maniacally in a room and throwing dollar
”
”
Aminah Mae Safi (This Is All Your Fault)
“
Leah tried to give her her brightest smile and exude sunshine, channeling someone deep inside her, the girl she used to be at ten years old, back when smiling came easy.
”
”
Marybeth Mayhew Whalen (When We Were Worthy)
“
Is that so? A girl like you should be married by now. Start a family, buy a house, have a kid, throw a đầy tháng just like this.” He laughed, revealing another gold cap in the back of his mouth.
”
”
Mai Nguyen (Sunshine Nails)
“
Atta girl, sunshine. Take what you need. It’s yours.
”
”
Lee Jacquot (Hollows Grove)
“
...when Ruthie emerges...I lie there quietly listening to her fears, her sorrows. Then I tell her good-bye, muster my strength, rise and open the door and et the sunshine in. I become the grown-up Ruth and return tot he world no longer feeling so small. I step out, legs trembling a little but my hear full, and set forth on the next journey, entrusting myself the the beauty and danger of life all over again." the author, Ruth Behar
”
”
Ruth Behar (Lucky Broken Girl)
“
...when Ruthie reemerges...I lie there quietly listening to her fears, her sorrows. Then I tell her good-bye, muster my strength, rise and open the door and let the sunshine in. I become the grown-up Ruth and return to the world, no longer feeling so small, I step out, legs trembling a little but my heart full, and set forth on the next journey, entrusting myself to the beauty and danger of life all over again." the author, Ruth Behar
”
”
Ruth Behar (Lucky Broken Girl)
“
She thinks she's not the prettiest girl in school. I think that's pretty stupid.
”
”
J.J. Wright (Icing Hearts)
“
*JESUS IN LONDON
'INASMUCH AS YE DID IT NOT—'
If JESUS came to London,
Came to London to-day,
He would not go to the West End,
He would come down our way;
He'd talk with the children dancing
To the organ out in the street,
And say He was their big Brother
And give them something to eat.
He wouldn't go to the mansions
Where the charitable live,
He'd come to the tenement houses
Where we ain't got nothing to give.
He'd come so kind and so homely,
And feed us with love and bread,
And then He'd tell us how to behave,
And then we'd mind what He said.
In the warm, bright, West End churches
They sing and preach and pray,
They call us “Beloved brethren,”
But they do not act that way;
And when He come to the church door
He'd call out loud and free,
“You stop that preaching and praying
And show what you've done for Me.”
Then they'd say, “Oh, Lord, we have given
To the poor both blankets and tracts,
And we've tried to make them sober
And we've tried to teach them facts.
But they will sneak round to the drink shop
And pawn the blankets for beer,
And we find them very ungrateful—
But still we persevere.”
Then He would say, “I told you
The time I was here before,
That you were all of you brothers,
All you that I suffered for.
I won't go into your churches,
I'll stop in the sun outside.
You bring out the men, your brothers,
The men for whom I died!”
Out of our lousy lodgings,
From arches and doorways about,
They'd have to do as He told them,
They'd have to call us out.
Millions and millions and millions,
Thick and crawling like flies,
We should creep out to the sunshine
And not be afraid of His eyes.
He'd see what God's image looks like
When men have dealt with the same—
Wrinkled with work that is never done,
Swollen and dirty with shame.
He'd see on the children's foreheads
The branded gutter-sign
That marks the girls to be harlots,
That dooms the boys to be swine.
Then He'd say, “What's the good of churches
When these have nowhere to sleep?
And how can I hear you praying
When they are cursing so deep?
I gave My blood and My body
That they might have bread and wine,
And you have taken your share and theirs
Of these good gifts of Mine!”
Then some of the rich would be sorry,
And all would be very scared;
And they'd say, “But we never knew, Lord!”
And He'd say, “You never cared!”
And some would be sick and shameful
Because they'd know that they knew,
And the best would say, “We were wrong, Lord.
Now tell us what to do!”
I think He'd be sitting, likely,
For someone 'ud bring Him a chair,
With a common kid cuddled up on His knee
And the common sun on His hair.
And they'd be standing before Him,
And He'd say, “You know that you knew.
Why haven't you worked for your brothers
The same as I worked for you?
“For since you're all of you brothers,
It's clear as God's blessed sun
That each must work for the others,
Not thousands work for one.
And the ones that have lived bone-idle,
If they want Me to hear them pray,
Let them go and work for their livings—
The only honest way!
“I've got nothing new to tell you;
You know what I always said.
But you've built their bones into churches
And stolen their wine and bread.
You with My name on your foreheads,
Liar, and traitor, and knave,
You have lived by the death of your brothers,
These whom I died to save.”
I wish He would come and say it;
Perhaps they'd believe it then,
And work like men for their livings
And let us work like men.
Brothers? They don't believe it,
The lie on their lips is red.
They'll never believe till He comes again
Or till we rise from the dead
”
”
E. Nesbit (Jesus In London By E. Nesbit: With Seven Pictures By Spencer Pryse)
“
The sunshine in her smile seeped into him, warming him as it had for days. She wore a simple cotton dress borrowed from a girl in the village for the trip to the accident site. It was white with bits of lace at the cuffs and neckline, making her seem young, innocent, and full of life. And he had nearly robbed her of that life.
”
”
Harper St. George (The Devil and the Heiress (The Gilded Age Heiresses, #2))
“
For the first time in my life, I feel fucking whole. For the first time in my life, there is a reason to me.” I point at myself. “For the first time in my life, I can breathe. Fuck, Hazel, I can’t even explain to you how I feel. Because there are no words. The minute I found out that she was mine, everything … Everything changed. That girl,” I point at the window where I know she sleeps. “She owns me.
”
”
Natasha Madison (Southern Sunshine (Southern Series, #8))
“
How to Love (The Sonnet)
How do I love thee?
Lemme count the ways.
No wait, why bother counting,
When I can shower you with praise!
When there's sunshine on your face,
Lemme drink it like miracle syrup.
When your soul is blue and cloudy,
Lemme be your personal stand-up.
Your achievements are my own,
As such they boost my swag.
When you are mad at yourself,
Lemme be your punching bag.
Give me your body or not, I don't care.
I just wanna be there to wipe your every tear.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Girl Over God: The Novel)
“
In my experience, the saucier a woman’s bravado, the more obedient she became upon surrender. I bet she’d love being praised as a good girl, knowing that she was adored—the object of my strongest desire.
”
”
Evie James (Night Shift)
“
As a girl, I had been happiest in the water, floating among the reeds, the water lapping over my body, the sky in its vastness above me. The air tasting like salt and sunshine, like freedom. Back then, it didn't cost much to be free, just a strawberry Charms Blow Pop and the belief that you could conquer the world.
”
”
Terah Shelton Harris (One Summer in Savannah)
“
His grin was sort of sparkly, catching the sunshine coming through the skylights. If I were a cat, I would have rolled around, basking in the brightness coming off him, then curled up in a ball and taken the best nap ever. This warmth must have been what Delilah had felt when she and Ivan were becoming close. I now understood why she’d crushed on him before Rhys. Ivan was unfailingly kind. He stood between my friend and the boy who kept breaking her heart. He jumped with me, and his hands felt like a campfire. That was not to mention his physical attributes, which were plentiful. The tattoos, the shaggy hair, the Russian accent, his height and lean muscles…Ivan was a boy girls tripped over their own feet to be closer to. Luckily for me, I had my sister’s experience to show me this was just who Ivan was. He was good at friendship—maybe too good for the sake of the trail of girls he left swooning in his wake.
”
”
Julia Wolf (Jump on Three (Savage Academy #3))
“
Family?" I asked.
"In a sense. And I exhausted all other avenues. Joining this fucking barbaric spectacle was not high up on my list of things I wanted to do with my pathetic never-ending life." His mouth twisted into a wry smile. "I wouldn't even be here if Mische didn't force me into it."
My eyebrows leapt.
He chuckled and took another drink. "Look at that face. You thought I was the—what was your word?—brute who Turned Mische, carted her around Obitraes for a few hundred years, then dragged that poor, innocent little sunshine sprite halfway across the world to the bloodthirsty Kejari tournament, is that it?"
"Yes," I said, without hesitation. "Absolutely."
"That fucking girl." He shook his head. "No, this was all her idea. And she knew I'd never let her do it alone.
”
”
Carissa Broadbent (The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia, #1))
“
I was scared I’d never love a person after Todd. Scared of what my parents would say. Todd’s parents. I was scared the shame would overwhelm me. I was scared of regretting this for the rest of my life. I was scared I wouldn’t regret it. I was scared of my relief. “Listen to me,” Kitty whispered, her voice and her eyes so fierce, so strong. She leaned down so her beautiful face was all I could see. “What you’re feeling, everything you’re feeling. You feel it and then you let it go. You hold on to it and it’ll break you right in half. You can’t break, Betts. The world needs you. I need you.
”
”
Molly Fader (The Sunshine Girls)
“
Rural Free Delivery (RFD)
Home, upon that word drops the sunshine of beauty and the shadow of tender sorrows, the reflection of ten thousand voices and fond memories.
This is a mighty fine old world after all
if you make yourself think so. Look happy even if things are going against you— that will make others happy. Pretty soon all will be smiling and then there is no telling what can’t be done.
Coca-Cola Girl
Mother baked a fortune cake
pale yellow icing, lemon drops round rim, hidden within treasures,
a ring—you’ll be married,
a button—stay a bachelor,
a thimble—always a spinster,
and a penny—you’re rich.
Gee, but I am hungry. Wait a second, dear, until I pull my belt up another notch. There that’s better.
So, you see, Hon, I am straighter than a string around a bundle.
You ought to see my eye, it’s a peach. I am proud of it, looks like I’ve been kicked by a mule. You know, dear, that they can kick hard enough to knock all the soda out of a biscuit without breaking the crust
Hogging Catfish
This gives you a fighting chance. Noodle your right hand into their gills, hold on tight while you grunt him out of the water. This can be a real dogfight. Old river cat wants to go down deep,
make you bottom feed.
Like I said, boys, when you
tell a whopper, say it like you believe it.
Saturday Ritual
My Granddad was a cobbler.
We each owned two pairs of shoes, Sunday shoes and everyday shoes. When our Sunday shoes got worn they became our everyday shoes.
Main Street Saturday Night
We each were given a dime on Saturday
opening a universe of possibilities.
All the stores stayed open and people
flocked into town. Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds
set up a popcorn stand on Reinheimer’s
corner and soon after lighting a little stove, sounding like small firecrackers, popping began.
Dad, laughing
shooting the breeze with a group of farmers,
drinking Coca Cola, finding out if any sheds
needed to be built or barns repaired, discussing the price of next year’s seed, finding out
who’s really working, who’s just looking busy.
There is no object I wouldn’t give to relive my childhood growing up in Delavan— where everyone knew everyone—
and joy came with but a dime.
Market Day
Jim Pittsford’s grocery
smelled of bananas ripening
and the coffee he ground by hand,
wonderful smoked ham and bacon fresh sliced. He’d reward the child
who came to pick up the purchase,
with a large dill pickle
Biking home, skillfully balancing Jim Pittsford’s bacon, J B’s tomatoes and peaches, while sniffing a tantalizing spice rising from fresh warm rolls,
I nibbled my pickle reward.
”
”
James Lowell Hall
“
Enjoy the warm sunshine on your skin and let it bring you joy. Embrace each ray like a hug from above.
”
”
Priyanshi Ranawat
“
I learned that the worst day of loving someone is the day you lose them and now I’m left with two bodies to bury and I don’t want a world where sunshine girls die
”
”
Sunday Mornings at the River (Look What The Night Dragged In: A Poetry Anthology)
“
And so I am very happy myself because, after all, the greatest thing in life is to always be making everybody else happy. And so, while everybody is so happy, I really think it is a good time to finish my diary because after all, I am to busy going over my senarios with Mr. Montrose, to keep up any other kind of literary work. And I am so busy bringing sunshine into the life of Henry that I really think, with everything else I seem to acomplish, it is all a girl had ought to try to do. And so I really think that I can say good-bye to my diary feeling that, after all, everything always turns out for the best.
”
”
Anita Loos (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes)
“
Girls are the glimmer of the sunshine, the bloom of the spring, a treasure to their families. Let's give them an equal share, an opportunity to grow, fulfill their dreams, and conquer the world.
”
”
Arshia Mittal
“
I don't know what it is about Rosamund today, but she's shining like King Midas on a dull day. Everything she touches is turning to gold-- gold dipped in diamonds and sprinkled with sunshine.
”
”
Karen Brooks (The Chocolate Maker's Wife)
“
Eye Hate U"
U have just accessed the Hate Experience
Do U wish 2 change your entry?
Very well, please enjoy your experience
I never thought that U would be the one
After all the things that we've been through
U gave your body 2 another in the name of fun
I hope U had some baby, if not, boo hoo
It's so sad but I hate U like a day without sunshine
It's so bad but I hate U cuz U're all that's ever on my mind
Honey, I hate U - Now everyday would be a waste of time
Cuz I hate U
I never thought that I could feel this way
2 fall in love was a table reserved 4 fools
Say U're sorry if U wanna but it's all in vain
I'm out the door sweet baby, that's right, we're through
It's so sad but I hate U like a day without sunshine
It's so bad but I hate U cuz U're all that's ever on my mind
Honey, I hate U - Now everyday would be a waste of time
Cuz I hate U
This court is now in session
Would the defendant please rise?
State your name 4 the court
Never mind (Billy Jack Bitch)
U're being charged with one 2 many counts of heartbreaking
In the 1st degree
I don't give a damn about the others
My main concern is U and me
Your honor, may I call 2 the stand my one and only witness?
A girl that know damn well she didn't have no damn business
I know what U did, how U did it and uh.. who U did it with
So U might as well plead guilty cuz U sure can't plead the 5th
Now raise your right hand
Do U swear 2 tell the whole truth
Not the half truth like U used 2 so help U God?
Nod your head one time if U hear me
If U don't, I'll have 2 use the rod
Anything 2 make U see that uh.. U're gonna miss me
Yeah, U're gonna miss me
Uh, uh, uh, oh!
If it please the court
I'd like 2 have the defendant place her hands behind her back
So I can tie her up tight and get into the act
The act of showing her how good it used 2 be
I want it 2 be so good she falls back in love with me
Close your eyes
I'm gonna cover your ass with this sheet
And I want U 2 pump your hips like U used 2
And, baby, U better stay on the beat
Did U do 2 your other man the same things that U did 2 me?
Right now I hate U so much I wanna make love until U see
That it's killin' me, baby, 2 be without U
Cuz all I ever wanted 2 do was 2 be with U ... ow!
I hate U (I hate U)
Because I love U (Because I love U)
But I can't love U (I can't love U)
Because I hate U (I hate U)
Prince, The Gold Experience (1995)
”
”
Prince Rogers Nelson