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“At times like this her grief hovered in the room like a dark winged creature. She squeezed her eyes shut and remembered Meg saying to her, Find a favorite memory, and run it through your mind. When you lose someone, you have to find new ways to feel close. Meg used to say her memories were her jewels to keep forever.“
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“Ian really dazzled them when he said the rock itself was 2.7 billion years old. Billion with a B. She felt like a moth or an otter on this ancient rock and wondered how humans had got to thinking they were so important, with their bad TV and endless malls, when this rock had been here almost since the beginning of time. Ian had been saying that wild places are important because there’s no other way to know completely about how deep nature is except to lie on a rock like this, listen to water slapping the shore, watch dragonflies patrolling, and to smell deep down what the earth has always been. Now she understood.”
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““So, Nika, what grade are you in?” she asked, glancing at Nika before beginning a careful inspection of her polished nails. “Oh, that varies from year to year,” Nika answered, politely smiling but suddenly getting up and heading for the kitchen.”
“After they finished eating, Thomas said, “Dad said meet him at the dock,” and the boys rushed out as if it were a rule that boys in a group must run.“