Descending Into Madness (Winterland Tale, #1)

by Stacey Marie Brown

“Crazy ones don’t need to joke because we are mad. The sane ones joke to feel insane, and the insane joke to feel sane. Or is it the other way around?”

“Depends on where you want to go.” Frosty circled to me, his coal smile widening. Crap, he was creepy. “Adventure is a state of mind. Not the path.”

“One thing you’ll learn quickly here, Ms. Liddell, there is no good or bad. Right or wrong. Up or down. Nothing is ever what it seems. Including you. Understanding this is the only way you will survive.”

“I love how you think this is a game.” I pointed the cane at the fresh group of soldiers stepping into the garden. “Why shouldn’t I? Life is a game. You only need to know how to play it to survive.”

“What do you consider normal, Ms. Liddell? Normal could be abnormal, and abnormal could be quite ordinary.”

“Only the insane are so sure of their sanity.” A huge grin curved up his mouth.

“I hated the phrase “curiosity killed the cat.” It was meant to warn people to keep in line. Behave and follow the leader. To be told what to do and accept it, not figuring it out for yourselves.”

My feet slowed, taking in what he said. How true his statement was. My world seemed to be getting more violent, hateful, and intolerant—all stemming from a core unhappiness in everyone’s lives. You couldn’t blame Winterland for all the hostility building on Earth. I love the connection to Earth here.

“I had always somehow felt inferior because I wasn’t as “book smart” or logical as my sister. No more. I liked the way I was. And strangely, overnight, I felt I had become the right mix of dreamer and reasonable.”

“Dinah, your mother, and me… we’re similar. We want structure. Security. Safety. And it works for us, but you’ll be the one with adventures. Travel the world. Experience things in life I will only fantasize and read about in books. You have passion, Alice. If anything, I’m in awe of it… proud.”