Somewhere Beyond the Sea (Cerulean Chronicles, #2)

by T.J. Klune

He walked toward it slowly. Reaching the porch, he crouched down in front of the flower, touching the yellow petals gently, sunwarm against his fingertips. Rebirth. Perseverance. Color. Life. Everything important in the smallest packages. He smiled, and for the first time in a long time, felt something right itself in his chest. “Well,” he said, “if you can do it, I suppose I can too.”

“I . . . when I lived in the city, I dreamed in color, of places where the sea stretched on for miles and miles.” He looked at each of the children in turn. “But what I didn’t expect was that the color didn’t come from the ocean, or the trees, or even the island itself. It came from all of you.” He blinked rapidly, throat working. “This has been the best birt. Thank you. You’ve made me the happiest I’ve ever been.”

“And I regret nothing,” Helen said. “Good riddance to bad rubbish.”

“Linus told me something once, and I think about it a lot. He said it’s okay to not be okay, so long as it doesn’t become all we know.”

and I finally understood what life was supposed to be like. Color, joy. Togetherness. Knowing people are there to have your back even when you’re at your darkest.”