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

by T.J. Klune

Why is it that I must always worry about tomorrows?”

He’d accepted long ago that some people, no matter how good their heart was or how much love they had to give, would always be alone.

“They fear what they don’t understand. And that fear turns to hate for reasons I’m sure even they can’t begin to comprehend. And since they don’t understand the children, since they fear them, they hate them. This can’t be the first time you’ve heard of this. It happens everywhere.”

“Of course I’m me. Who else would I be?”

even the bravest of us can still be afraid sometimes, so long as we don’t let our fear become all we know.”

“I like being round,” Talia announced. “It means there’s more of me to love.”

“Of course,” Mr. Parnassus said. “What’s mine is yours.” Something fluttered in Linus’s stomach.

Linus knew that people often feared (though he felt that word was coded for something else entirely) what they didn’t understand.

Change often starts with the smallest of whispers. Like-minded people building it up to a roar.

Your voice is a weapon. Never forget that.”

“I am but paper. Brittle and thin. I am held up to the sun, and it shines right through me. I get written on, and I can never be used again. These scratches are a history. They’re a story. They tell things for others to read, but they only see the words, and not what the words are written upon. I am but paper, and though there are many like me, none are exactly the same. I am parched parchment. I have lines. I have holes. Get me wet, and I melt. Light me on fire, and I burn. Take me in hardened hands, and I crumple. I tear. I am but paper. Brittle and thin.”

Just because you don’t experience prejudice in your everyday doesn’t stop it from existing for the rest of us.”

But he felt lighter somehow. Like he wasn’t paint blending into the wall. He felt real. He felt present. Almost like he could be seen.

LEAVE. WE DON’T WANT YOUR KIND HERE, one side of the parchment said. NO, THANK YOU, the other side said.

Death is wonderful to music. It makes the singers sound like ghosts.”

“My brain is filled with spiders burrowing their eggs in the gray matter. Soon they’ll hatch and consume me.”

“Because people aren’t black and white. No matter how hard you try, you can’t stay on one path without diversions. And that doesn’t mean you’re a bad person.”

“Hello, Mr. Baker. I am the leader of this expedition to find the treasure of the island sprite. 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 surface to you that’s hard but cracked. Dig a little deeper, and there is all this life teeming wildly. It’s a conundrum.”

“You have to see what’s underneath it all,” Phee said. She dug her hands into the earth. “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.”

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

Sometimes, things get chipped and broken, but there’s still good in them.”

Arthur’s hair was ruffled on his head, and Linus wondered what it felt like.

He lifted the lid with his graceful fingers.

“It’s not about need, Linus. That’s not what gift giving is for. It’s about the joy that someone is thinking of you.” Linus felt his skin warm. “You were … thinking about me?” “Constantly.

I prefer bluntness to obfuscation. Things get lost in translation.

Arthur nodded. He reached up as if he were going to touch the side of Linus’s face, but curled his hand into a fist and stepped back. He smiled tightly. “Good night, Linus.”

we must pick and choose our fights. Just because someone else acts a certain way, doesn’t mean we should respond in kind. It’s what makes us different. It’s what makes us good.”

“People suck, but sometimes, they should just drown in their own suckage without our help.”

“It’s not fair,” Linus said, staring off into nothing. “The way some people can be. But as long as you remember to be just and kind like I know you are, what those people think won’t matter in the long run. Hate is loud, but I think you’ll learn it’s because it’s only a few people shouting, desperate to be heard. You might not ever be able to change their minds, but so long as you remember you’re not alone, you will overcome.”

“Change comes when people want it enough, Mr. Baker. And I do. I promise you that. It may take some time, but you’ll see.

Linus looked up to find Arthur staring at him. “What?” Arthur shook his head slowly. “I don’t know why you can’t see it.” “See what?” “You. Everything you are.”

You make me feel like I’m burning up from the inside out.” Linus couldn’t find a way to believe him. “I’m just one person. I’m just me.” “I know. And what a lovely person you are.”

You are their father, Arthur. You said you love them more than life itself. You have to know they feel the same about you. Of course they do. How can they not? Look at you. Look at what you’ve made here. You are a fire, and they need to know how you burn. Not only because of who you are, but because of what they have made you into.”

I promise you, the thought of using you for anything has never crossed my mind. You’re too precious to put into words.

He looked up to see Arthur Parnassus standing before him, hand outstretched. Thank you. You keep saying that, and I don’t know if it’s deserved. I know you don’t believe you do. But I don’t say things I don’t mean. Life is too short for it. Do you like to dance? I don’t … know. I think I might have two left feet, honestly. I highly doubt that. And Linus Baker allowed himself to be selfish. Just this once. He took Arthur’s hand and stood slowly as Nat told him to smile even though his heart was breaking. Arthur pulled him close, and they began to sway back and forth.

“Smile and maybe tomorrow,” Arthur whispered in his ear. “You’ll see the sun come shining through for you.” Linus lay his head against Arthur’s chest. He could feel the heat from him burning from the inside out. They danced.

“Did you like your treasure, Mr. Baker?” Linus looked up at Arthur again. “I did,” he whispered. “I liked it more than anything.”

“Why can’t life work whatever way we want it to? What’s the point of living if you only do it how others want you to?”

His thoughts were all cerulean.

Life, Linus Baker knew, came down to what we made from it. It was about the choices, both big and small.

“I popped my bubble,” he told her, needing her to understand. “It kept me safe, but it also kept me from living. I shouldn’t have left in the first place.”

It was half past five, which meant the children would be involved in their personal pursuits. Sal, he thought, would be writing in his room. Chauncey would be practicing in front of the mirror. Phee would be with Zoe in the trees. Theodore was most likely underneath the couch, and Talia in her garden. Lucy and Arthur would be upstairs, talking about philosophy and spiders on the brain. He could breathe for the first time in weeks.

But it was you who gave me peace and joy like I’ve never had before. You gave me a voice and a purpose. Nothing would have changed if it hadn’t been for all of you. I believe they’ve listened to me, but the only reason I knew what to say at all was because of what you taught me. We’re not alone. We never have been. We have each other. If I were to leave again, I would wish I were here. I don’t want to wish anymore. If you’ll have me, I would like to stay. For always.”

Lucy threw up his hands. “I don’t know why you don’t just kiss him and get it over with. Adults are so dumb.”

He was being kissed. He hadn’t even seen Arthur move. One moment, he thought he was about to break, and the next, his face was cupped in warm hands, and lips were pressed against his own. He felt as if he were on fire, burning from the inside out. He reached up, putting his hands atop Arthur’s, holding them in place. He never wanted this moment to end. For all the love songs he’d ever listened to in his life, he hadn’t been prepared for how a moment like this could feel.

“You silly, delightful man. There is nothing to be sorry for. You fought for us. I could never be angry with you for that. How I cherish you.”

As they continued to sway to a song only they could hear, the sun finally sank below the horizon, and all was right in this tiny little corner of the world. Don’t you wish you were here?

Sometimes, he thought to himself in a house in a cerulean sea, you were able to choose the life you wanted. And if you were of the lucky sort, sometimes that life chose you back.