The Girl Who Drank the Moon

by Kelly Barnhill

Everything you see is in the process of making or unmaking or dying or living. Everything is in a state of change.”

“I love you, Grandmama.” “I know, darling,” Xan wheezed. “I love . . .” And she drifted away, loving everything.

There is no love without loss, she thought.

“The heart is built of starlight And time. A pinprick of longing lost in the dark. An unbroken chord linking the Infinite to the Infinite. My heart wishes upon your heart and the wish is granted. Meanwhile the world spins. Meanwhile the universe expands. Meanwhile the mystery of love reveals itself, again and again, in the mystery of you. I have gone. I will return. Glerk”