The House in the Cerulean Sea (Cerulean Chronicles, #1)

by T.J. Klune

“Not feeling anything at all.”

I worried because he was alone, but I feel that way with all these children. I worried how he would fit in with the others who were already here. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to provide him what he needed.”

“Because that is what we must give him, what we must give all of them. Hope and guidance and a place to call their own, a home where they can be who they are without fear of repercussion.”

“I am protecting them from a world that doesn’t understand. One day at a time, Mr. Baker. If I can instill confidence in them, a sense of self, then hopefully it will give them the tools they need to face the real world, especially since it will be just as hard for them.

I’m glad you’ve decided to join up! Most likely, you’ll die a horrible death at the hands and mouths of cannibals who will roast you alive on a spit and then lick the juices from your cracking skin. If you’re lucky, the necrotizing fasciitis will get to you first from a terrible bug bite, and your body will rot out from underneath you until you’re nothing but a pile of bones and bloody pus. It’s going to be wonderful.”

“There’s a reason for all things, Arthur. Our predecessors knew the only way to help assimilate magical persons into our culture was to have stringent guidelines set in place to assure a smooth transition.”

just because a person is capable of wickedness, doesn’t mean they will act upon it.

while I understand your point, I hope you can see mine. I know how the world works. I know the teeth that it has. It can bite you when you least expect it.

the longer they remain hidden, the harder it will be when the time comes. This place … this island. You said it yourself. It isn’t forever. There’s a whole wide world beyond the sea, and while it may not be a fair world, they have to know what else is out there. This can’t be everything.”

“If the cannibals start chasing after us, they’ll see you first. We’re little, and you’ve got all that meat on your bones, so it’ll give us time to get away. Your forthcoming sacrifice is appreciated.”

even if you wiped out the grove, if you tear down all the trees, unless you get to the roots, they’ll just be reborn again, and grow as they had before. Maybe not quite the same, but eventually, their trunks will be white, and their leaves will turn gold. I would like to see them one day. I think they’d have much to tell me.”

“You have to put in the time to learn what the differences are. It’s slow going, but that’s what patience is for. The roots can go on forever, waiting for the right time.”

“I listened to the earth. It sings. Most people don’t realize that. You have to listen for it with all your might. Some will never hear it, no matter how hard they try. But I can hear it as well as I can hear you. It sang to me, and I promised it in return that I would care for it if it should give me what I asked for.”

As long as you listen, you can hear all manner of things you never thought were there to begin with.

If you take away what is known about the boy—who he is supposed to be—you are left with an inquisitive youth who tends to say things for shock value rather than with any sincerity.

It does beg the question of nature versus nurture, if there is inherent evil in the world that can be overcome by a normalized upbringing.

If the children don’t feel welcome in the real world, how can we ever hope to integrate them into society?

Why he would feel any sort of consternation over such a thing was beyond him, but there it was.

he was sure Arthur was watching from somewhere. He didn’t know how he knew, but Linus was under the impression that not much happened on the island without Arthur knowing.

“Because as much as cats can tell about people, you can always judge a person by how they treat animals. If there is cruelty, then that person should be avoided at all costs. If there is kindness, I like to think it’s the mark of a good soul.”

I’ve dealt with prejudice for a long time. I have to remind myself that not everyone thinks that way. My point is you did something remarkable for a boy who came to us only used to derision. He listened to you, Linus. He learned from you, and it was a lesson he needed to be taught. I don’t think he could have asked for a better teacher in that regard.”

As he switched off the record player and began to turn in for the night, it never crossed his mind he’d forgotten to ask about the cellar door.

I find it fascinating, the bond he’s created with the children. They care for him greatly, and I believe they see him as a father figure. Never having been a master of an orphanage myself, I cannot attest to the strength one must have in order to run such a household. While it’s certainly unusual, I think it works for them.

How are we supposed to enforce something that hasn’t been changed with the times?

Theodore is capable of complex thought and feelings, just as any human. He is intelligent and resourceful.

he does have language, though it might not be what we’re used to hearing. And even in my short time here, I’ve been able to pick up on the cadences of his chirps.

I find our perception is colored by what we’re taught. Even as children, we’re told the world is a certain way, and these are the rules. This is the way things are, and one of those things is that gnomes are bad-tempered and will brain you upside the head with a shovel as much as look at you. And while this might describe Talia on a surface level, one could argue that would be the case with most preteen girls.

One only needs to spend the time with her to dive beneath the surface of those waves of bravado to see that she is fiercely protective of those she cares about.

He was told repeatedly he was a monster—by children, by masters, by people in positions who should have known better. The more you beat down on a dog, the more it cowers when a hand is raised. And yet, even though Chauncey had been beaten verbally before Marsyas

he is a bright and loving child. He dreams.

He dreams of a future that he may never have. And while his dreams may seem small, they a...

Sal has been here the shortest amount of time and still has a long way to go before I believe he will be fully recovered.

It has nothing to do with him. It is because of him that these things are possible. This isn’t simply an orphanage. It is a house of healing, and one that I think is necessary.

The house appeared to be shrinking. The ceiling overhead was much closer than it’d been when he’d gone to sleep.

No, the reason the ceiling looked so much closer was because the bed was floating five feet off the ground.

It took Linus a moment to realize what they were doing: They thought he was going to use this against Lucy. Against them.

Linus thought he caught a flash of orange light out of the corner of his eye, but it faded before he could figure out where it’d come from.

and I know you’re scared,” Arthur was saying. “And I know sometimes you see things when you close your eyes that no one should ever see. But there is good in you, Lucifer, overwhelmingly so. I know there is.

There has never been anyone like you before, and I see you for all that you are, and all the things you aren’t. Come home. All I want you to do is come home.”

“It was so bad,” Lucy cried. “I was lost, and there were spiders. I couldn’t find you. Their webs were so big, and I was lost.”

“It’s part of being alive, I think. But even if you have bad dreams, you must remember they’re only that: dreams. You will always wake from them. And they will fade, eventually. I’ve found that waking from a bad dream brings a sense of relief unlike anything else in the world. It means what you were seeing wasn’t real.”

He ran out the door, shouting down the hallway that he wasn’t dead, and that nothing got lit on fire this time, and wasn’t that grand?

But I don’t think he would survive away from here. If this place were to close, or if he were to be removed,

The spiders, while certainly not actual spiders, are a representation of what’s going on in his head. Little threads of darkness woven into his light.”

Instead, he lay awake, thinking of the way Arthur’s hand had felt in his, the way they’d fit together. It was foolish, and most likely dangerous, but in the quiet darkness, there was no one who could take it away from him.

Lucy sighed. “How am I supposed to make new friends if I can’t tell them about how they’ll die? What’s the point?”

He was being silly, but he couldn’t curb the strange twist of dread in the pit of his stomach. This had been his idea, one he’d pushed for,

the idea of Lucy and Talia was enough to send shivers down his spine. They tended to feed off each other. He’d had to tell Talia in no uncertain terms that she could not bring her shovel, much to her displeasure.

Lucy and Talia turned their heads slowly in unison, matching smiles on their faces that sent a cold chill down Linus’s spine.

“Do you think there’s a graveyard here, Mr. Baker?” Lucy asked. “I would like to see it, if there is.” “I told you I should have brought my shovel,” Talia muttered. “How am I supposed to dig up dead bodies without my shovel?” Perhaps Linus was going to live to regret this after all.