A Song Below Water Quotes
"It’s never made a difference but it’s part of the ritual, and I guess it must mean something that I did it even before I knew there was a way for living sirens to listen for their dead."
"The problem with mythos is that it varies too much for any one interpretation to be believed."
"I wouldn’t know Gramma’s voice if I heard it. We lived in neighboring states my whole life, but we never met."
"The defense is saying the deceased was a siren. Which means maybe she wasn’t a victim after all."
"It’s the fact that, because I’m a subscriber who watches little else these days, Camilla’s face should be the first thing I see when I open the app."
"I hear its song, the way it sings to itself and anybody who comes below to hear it."
"It’s the one downside to Ren faire season returning. Knowing Mom won’t."
"After all, there hadn’t been a record of a non-Black siren since the Second World War; we were too niche a population to deserve extended support or attention."
"All Black women aren’t sirens. We’re not even only sirens."
"I’ve seen how close I get to telling on myself when I’m in love."
"I just wish you could tell me there’s a way out of this."
"Don’t give up on the real life you’ve got to go chasing after make-believe."
"Happiness makes you stupid. No one should ever be too happy, I say."
"Not that it would mean war if it did; Isabella is easy to forgive."
"Freedom of speech," he answered, but it was a question, like maybe he accidentally made that one up.
"Freedom of speech protects you from government retaliation for expressing personal views or generally dissenting opinions."
"What’s important is that she wears a dampening collar of her own free will, so her call doesn’t give her any unfair advantage."
"We should all speak like sirens. Use our voices to make a difference, because all of them matter."
"Who wouldn’t prefer that. So sometimes in class I practice holding my breath."
"If I were a siren I could’ve shut her down. Of course, there’d be consequences…"
"It’s not personal," I shake my head. "Trust me."
"That members of my own might play devil’s advocate because Black girls do have attitude. We don’t know when to quit. We never back down."
"I can’t have a car of my own. Might draw attention to myself somehow. It could alert people to the fact that I’m a siren."
"It’s a difficult life, ViVi," my dad told me once. "And not just for you."
"I wish she could tell me if the call I heard inside my head when I was eleven was the same one I just used without meaning to."
"Nothing says good morning like confrontation, but to be honest, I’m feeling pretty energized as I head to school."
"How else do you think a nappy haired cow got such a huge following? Wake up, idiots!"
"If I’m in trouble—if Priam’s dad knows and Naema can’t be trusted, if the world is on the hunt and everything’s coming down—this power might be all the protection I have."
"I’ve always wished life were as easy as Paw Paw makes it sound; now I’m starting to think there’s just a lot he doesn’t know."
"I’m not sure what to say now. I’m more than a little surprised that he hasn’t mentioned the whole 'haunted hair' part of that situation, but maybe he’s trying not to upset me."
"Everything inside me cringes. Because if Elric was being serious and he’s really never dropped any gift off at my house, that means my finding him is several shades more embarrassing."
"So if I can use my voice in service, I will."
"It’s dangerous because they are here, not because of Camilla."
"The important thing is that I’m never going to live this down."
"This place is like two thousand acres and I’ve been here all of three times for a class project. I have no idea where we are."
"It’s never gonna happen to you," I say, squeezing her tighter for a moment. "I promise."
"People say that the reason oracles don’t exist anymore is that people stopped believing them."
"But all us grown folk seem to have fear in common."
"She’s so rational and normal. I don’t get why she likes me."
"I want to have fun, and I am. I don’t think that makes me a bad person."
"I don’t want to use their hate of me against someone else. I don’t want to deny what I am, Eff."
"I don’t know what you are," she whispers, "but don’t be scared. No matter what. It’s something wonderful."
"I want to remember how Naema’s eyes snapped wide like she’d been slapped and how Wallace’s smirk makes him even cuter."
"I didn’t know this matter of life and justice could also help get me into college—but only if I were a tourist."
"If it’s a choice between running or surrendering or standing together, I have to stand."
"I don’t know how to imagine what comes after that."
"I was there and then I wasn’t, but no one seems to know."
"Effie would’ve found a way to let me know if they were taking her away. Gargy would’ve told me, flown fast to tell me before racing back. Maybe."
"No shame in going on your own. Guys are pretty wack, especially at your age."
"Maybe tomorrow we’ll have another exchange like this, and maybe it’ll be a tiny bit longer."
"You’re always the common factor when something horrible happens in this town."
"You’re an evil, conniving, selfish old woman who has tried my whole life to keep me from knowing who I really am."
"I don’t care! Do you hear me? Whatever’s out there, it’s better than being with you!"
"This is just the preamble before the cafeteria doors open, but it’s pretty impressive."
"It’s time to stop this. You got what you wanted."
"They call it the walking water on the Hidden Tales. You’ve never heard of it?"
"It was me. I didn’t know it, I didn’t know what I was. I’m so sorry."
"I’d rather be chased by photographers or be living stone than this."
"I’m not above it, it just feels a little strange, super seriously thinking while bouncing on my childhood mattress."
"I don’t know what made my mom trust you… but I don’t."
"She knows. She’s known. Probably for my whole life, and she hasn’t said a thing."
"I’d love to miss the coronation if you don’t mind."
"I know what you are. Because I’ve been helping keep her secret!"
"I know it’s you, Effie. I know you did something to Isabella."
"I don’t care what Naema thinks, but Wallace is standing next to me and Tavia’s behind me."
"I can’t decide which feels better, the supple tips of my fingers or the smoothness of my cheek."
"I wish I hadn’t wasted the time it took to make sure it was a spectacle."
"I was charged with your protection, but. Only in my true form."
"I got a call today. Somebody wants to do a documentary about the kids. Effie’s friends and their families. And you."
"It’s always worrying when—after the two of you pass through a tent portal in an abandoned faireground to find yourself in some kind of second world or dimension—your gorgon sister attacks a man who might be her father and they both disappear into a mysterious body of water you can’t see into."
"I’m not saying it’s okay. Just that I’m not angry."
"I’m about to tell her we’ll figure this out together, that everything’s gonna be different from now on—except she’s gone."
"I’m nobody. Neither of us are. We’re not like you, we’re not elokos."