“They all know the chant except her. She tries to follow along but her signs are halting. Still, the people on either side of her smile at her. The silence in the room is overwhelming, broken as it is by nothing but the involuntary sounds of the deaf and the rustling of the sleeves of the signing people. The girl is about to start to cry when she hears around her a muted chuckling sound. Who’s laughing, she thinks furiously, only to realize that the sound was the sniffling of other people already weeping. At the realization, she is hard-put to suppress giggles instead. She thinks: maybe all ritual has mystery and absurdity, and maybe that is what it is for. It is a curious and complex thought and like most of her legacy from the madwoman it makes her head hurt. She concentrates then on her signing.” LoveHopeLanguageLossGriefSecretMysterySlaveryDeaf Book:Black Wine Source: Black Wine
“It is only for a while. I will receive you when you die, with special love.’ “‘That won’t do me any good.’ Essa struggles through sobs, finds speech, bends it until she can keep hold of it. ‘It won’t be a little while for me. It’ll be my life. And when you receive me, I’ll be dead.” LoveLifeDeathLossSeparation Book:Black Wine Source: Black Wine