The Hungry Ghosts
Page 23
* Please is often called the magick word, and for good reason. It was, after all, the first word. The word that people use to get things. To ask for things. To want. But there are many words in this world with power, and perhaps no word so powerful as the one people use to let go, to give, to reconcile.
* It has often been thought that when a bamboo forest is about to pass away, green shoots give way to the blooming of pink blossoms as the foundation of a new forest. Death and rebirth are a natural part of a forest’s lifespan, and a time of both mourning and celebration for the children of the trees.
* All Strange Things Live in the Dark, Chapter 4: Cats are one of the top five companions for aspiring witches. They are, by nature, hard to tame and, thus, hard to love. It is not known whether it is the witch that picks the cat or the cat that picks the witch. Either way, the general consensus is that the appearance of them together can mean nothing but bad luck.
* As you’ve seen, a lot can be revealed in a voice. Voices are clothes that we wear for our insides. Some wear their voices discreetly, dressing only in muted mumbles and sighs and murmurs and whispers. Others wear their voices boldly, displaying a colorful assortment of screams and shouts and whoopings and hollers. As for the wizards, they were used to dressing in colorful lies and deceitful slanders, which are clothes that only appear flattering to those who wear them. Milly did not have the desire to dress her voice in anything but honesty.
* Winds and witches agree: the only thing better than keeping a promise is breaking a cruel one.
* So hard, in fact, that no known magicker has ever successfully done so. Giants are born of the mountains. The strongest giant was so strong that he once held down all four winds when they attempted to abandon Arrett. (That giant’s name was Ovid the Small.) As such, the city of Nignip used sneakier methodology to keep the giants quiet. They used different magicks. Things like politicks and knowledge and isolation. Horace’s mother knew how to get around these, in her own way. She knew that if all the city’s laws were written in grass tongue, she’d have to teach her son grass tongue. And that if she couldn’t be tamed, she could stand in for those who could be.
* The scent of a home-cooked meal is one of the most powerful, yet overlooked magicks of all. It is a comfort to the hungry. A guide to the lost. A home for the prodigal.
* Rules and Regulations of Being a Witch, Chapter 14: Swearing is a form of magicks in which a witch decides to tame themself. They become bound, by magicks, to their word. It requires humility on the part of the one with power and acceptance from the one without. For this reason, swearing can be potent but dangerous.
* I mentioned before that history is like a snake shedding its skin, growing out of inconvenient half-truths and convenient untruths. However, now I will tell you another secret. Although history changes, pieces of the whole truth always stick around. No matter how hard people try, they can’t cover every single light with a shadow. Soon enough, someone special comes along, someone who is a little bit curious and a little bit courageous. It is very hard to find someone who can fix something instead of wreck it, but they exist. It is these people who truly understand magicks.