Beyond The Bright Sea Quotes
"I’ll never know for sure when I was born. Not exactly."
"The same was true of my other milestones: moments that had nothing to do with calendars."
"She looked me in the eye as she passed, as if to memorize what I was at that moment."
"I could feel my curiosity strengthening, as if it were part of my bones, keeping pace with them as I grew."
"But more than that—more than simple curiosity—I had a nagging need to know what I didn’t know."
"But it didn’t really matter. By the time the replies made their way into Miss Maggie’s hands, I’d already become Osh’s. And he had become mine."
"Sometimes there were only two or three other children on the islands, and Mr. Henderson, the schoolmaster, who was also a ship’s pilot, often left them alone."
"If you’re hungry enough, you’ll learn to fish and farm. The rest is salt and pepper."
"But I liked salt and pepper and I wanted to know more than I did."
"Better to have only four legs than to be dead. Better to eat starfish soup than starve."
"I didn’t talk because I had nothing to say. And there was no one to listen."
"You start looking back now and you might not see where you’re going."
"Made me that sweater I have. Sheared the wool, dyed it with indigo, spun it, knitted it, too big. Brought it over with a kettle of chowder and told me to grow into it."
"There’s always a reason. But what does that have to do with you?"
"If people hadn’t been so afraid that you were from Penikese, they would have taken you away for sure."
"First off, if they had wanted me they wouldn’t have sent me away, especially not like they did."
"But the thought of being here alone now? Without you? I can’t think that thought. It won’t stay long enough to make sense."
"My questions are just words, I wrote. I wonder if they mean anything to you."
"I'm sorry if I sound foolish, I wrote. It's possible that I really am foolish. Thank you."
"Nothing better than to dredge a hunk of hot biscuit through chowder thick with clams and potatoes."
"What teacher would mind when a student doesn't need her anymore?"
"I wonder, sometimes, what would have happened if I hadn’t found that little spyglass in the sand."
"I was learning that some things take time, and worrying wouldn't change that."
"I thought it must be the bird keeper. But why would he be heading out into darkness?"
"If you were that little baby’s father, would you be able to send another one off to live all by herself, same as the first?"
"They loved you, Crow. They didn’t want you to become ill, like they were."
"Things are usually better when you don’t mess with them too much."
"Nobody strands himself on an island unless he’s finished with the mainland."
"If there had been music, it might have been too much to bear."
"Always, you can call me Osh. And I am going to call you Crow no matter what."
"The mother who gave me that name is gone. You, I know."
"My name is important. I don’t tell it to just anyone."
"You haven’t been just anyone for a long time."
"I don’t want anyone else looking too hard at where we live."
"People don’t want much until they have plenty, and then they want more and more."
"If you want to hide something, leave it in plain sight."
"You must have quite a sweet tooth," he said. "Cost you a nickel. Or I can put some back."
"Easiest mistake in the world," he said. "Go get the basket."
"They're going to end up in a kettle, sooner or later," he said. "No point in spending too long in a trap beforehand."
"I never looked at it like that," I said. "Makes me feel mean."
"Don’t like to leave the lobsters in those traps any longer than I have to," he said.
"You haven’t done anything wrong. But we have to make sure he never comes here again. Ever. Do you understand?"
"Come on," he said, pulling me to my feet. "We have to get to Miss Maggie’s. Someone told him where to find us."
"No, not dead," she said. "Just out cold. Hit on the head and nearly drowned."
"None of this is your fault, Crow. But it has to stop."
"The word from New York is to expect big wind and surf late tonight," Mr. Johnson said.
"Shipwreck!" I called back to him and ran out into the rain and wind, across the beach and straight into the rising channel.
"He got away?" Miss Maggie said. "How could he get away?"
"He lay down like a dog when I had her by the neck."
"I don’t care one bit about the treasure, not anymore, not who touched it, not who took it, except that I did. I did."
"I’m afraid," I said, clinging to the trunk as it trembled in the wind.
"That was very foolish," she said. "And very smart."
"Let’s try not to do any of this again. At least not today."
"I am grateful as well to the many people who preserved the history of the Elizabeth Islands."