From the Bookshelf of Buddy Read Zone…

“I was dead until you found me, though I breathed. I was sightless, though I could see. And then you came...and I was awakened.”

“Z: "You know, this was a hell of a lot easier when you were out cold in the back of that tru

“I was dead until you found me, though I breathed. I was sightless, though I could see. And then you came...and I was awakened.”

“Z: "You know, this was a hell of a lot easier when you were out cold in the back of that truck."
Phury: "That was you?"
Z:"You think it was Santa Claus or some shit?”

“She is more beautiful than I have words for. And last night, I was blessed beyond measure to serve her.”

He wept then, wept from the generosity of her, from the kindness, from the feel of her gentle hand as it rubbed over his shoulder … the only touch he had welcomed in … forever.

“You are in a prison with no bars. I worry about you.”

“Sometimes your whole life could hinge on a fraction of an inch. Or the beat of a nanosecond. Or the knock on a door.”

“I… What are you saying, Zsadist?" she stammered, even though she'd heard every word.

He glanced back down at the pencil in his hand and then turned to the table. Flipping the spiral notebook to a new page, he bent way over and labored on top of the paper for quite a while. Then he ripped the sheet free.

His hand was shaking as he held it out. "It's messy."

Bella took the paper. In a child's uneven block letters there were three words: I LOVE YOU

Her lips flattened tight as her eyes stung. The handwriting got wavy and then disappeared.

"Maybe you can't read it," he said in a small voice. "I can do it over."

She shook her head. "I can read it just fine. It's… beautiful."

"I don't expect anything back. I mean… I know that you don't… feel that for me anymore. But I wanted you to know. It's important that you knew.”