The girl's mouth was chapped, tight and pinched, her skin dry. Mama would say she looked woebegone, but as… — Patricia Reilly Giff

He was laughing again. What was it about Bird that made him do that?

"With just the sweep of a pen, Thomas, you can change the world, all of it."

But that was a realworld, and he didn't have to put it down on paper. He ripped the page out of the book, tore it into shreds, and threw them behind the tree, where they settled into the weeds.