Life sure went by quick when you weren’t paying attention. It took forever to go from a child to a grown-up. The middle-aged years went by at a steady clip, and everything else after that just sort of whizzed by.

Do the thing you long to do and become the person you’re destined to be.

What I have are people – not really good friends, but a notch up from acquaintances.

People loved their dogs. They were their children, their companions, sometimes even their soul mates. Some people swore that their dog had an almost psychic connection with them, sensing when they were sad and bringing them comfort.

If Amy had gone with her to Magnificent Nutrition that morning, she would have confronted Dawn right from the start, whereas Sharon didn’t say anything until Dawn had insulted and threatened Niki. Two different ways to be strong.

Time was as fluid as a river. Waiting for something exciting made time crawl on its knees, and working on deadline made time sprint.

I did a quick look online to see if there was anything in the news about meteors or shooting stars or weird lights in the sky, but there was nothing at all. Nada.

The truth of it was, Jazzy mused, that if you had at least one person who believed in you, you could tolerate almost anything.

What do you like to read?” she asked. “Everything,” I answered, a vague reply but true. I loved thrillers, ghost stories, and stories set in different cultures. I liked reading about anyone who had an interesting life, from women who dressed up as men to fight in the Civil War, to the guy who invented Q-tips. If nothing else was available, I read junk mail and the backs of cereal boxes.

Life as an honest person could be difficult, but life as a criminal always caught up to you. She knew friends and family members who resorted to stealing or writing bad checks to get money for drugs. No matter how careful they were, the story always had the same ending. It was very much, she thought, like circling a drain. You were going down at some point. You just didn’t know when.