Mayumi Cruz > Mayumi's Quotes

“When asked, How do you write? I invariably answer, One word at a time.”
― Stephen King

“I wrote my first novel because I wanted to read it.”
― Toni Morrison

“I think new writers are too worried that it has all been said before. Sure it has, but not by you.”
― Asha Dornfest

“How did we come to this? Two tormented souls, two shattered hearts, two people tied and bound in a perpetual circle of gloom. There was no light in sight. Only darkness. Only sorrow.”

Excerpt From: Mayumi Cruz. “CHROMA HEARTS.” iBooks.”
― Mayumi Cruz, Chroma Hearts

“I will continue doing it, even if it takes a lifetime. Because I love her. I love her enough to look past the horror of what was done to her and cast my eyes forward, rebuilding our future.”
― Mayumi Cruz, Chroma Hearts

“Life beckoned to me in the form of a blinding white light, coaxing me to come near it and grasp it. To live again. To exist again among the living. But I didn't want to. Not anymore.
Death was a better choice.
But Death did not want me. Yet.
There was only one thing to do, then.
I must escape Life.
I turned away from the light, but it followed me. I ran, as fast as I can, but it was still behind me. I couldn’t lose it, however hard I tried. It was gaining on me! Out of breath, I turned into a dark alley and found myself in a barren stretch of land. I dropped to the ground as the light came into sight. And I knew that to avoid it, there was nothing else to do…but go underground.
With my bare hands, I scratched and scraped and clawed on the ground, and my fingernails cracked, and my hands became bloodied. But I didn't stop. I must not stop. I must not let the light get me.
So, I scratched and clawed and scraped the soil. Tears and perspiration mingled on my face, dripping down to the hole I was digging. “Still, I went on, and on, and on, focused on my task.
Finally, a hole big enough appeared out of my efforts. Coughing, short of breath, I crawled inside, worming my way in. I curled up my body. I pulled my knees to my chest, folded my arms around them, and wriggled myself in, until I was deeply and comfortably nestled in. No vacant spaces, no empty void. Just me and the hole.
I was a perfect fit for the dark pit I created for myself.
Gradually, my breathing returned to normal, my heart softly beating. Gratefully, I closed my eyes, allowing the darkness to engulf me wholly, shielding me from the light called Life.”
― Mayumi Cruz, Chroma Hearts

“Ah. Yes. The heart felt at hearth. But you see, sometimes, danger also lurks inside the home.”
― Mayumi Cruz, Chroma Hearts

“No amount of darkness can dim my love for you. I will be your lighthouse to guide you through the night, until you return to the safety of the shore. Our shore. Come back to me, babe. Come back, because I'm not going anywhere…without you.”
― Mayumi Cruz, Chroma Hearts

“All I heard was the sound of my own heart.
Beating, but not breathing.
Alive, but not living.
Whole, but fatally broken.”
― Mayumi Cruz, Chroma Hearts

“Oh, you foolish, foolish man,” she groaned, as she cupped her mouth with her hand, tears tumbling down her cheeks. “That handkerchief is not mine. And that is not W.”
― Mayumi Cruz, Chroma Hearts

“Life has been harsh to us, in ways we never expected, much more, desired. But it has also been kind in the past. And maybe that was what this tragedy wanted to teach us: to cherish every second, every minute, every hour, every day of our precious yet mundane lives, and to give thanks for every small yet meaningful detail that makes our days worth living.”
― Mayumi Cruz, Chroma Hearts

“He expected me to die that night. I didn’t.
I will not die now.”
― Mayumi Cruz, Chroma Hearts

“You can let go now. Please let go. I will see you in your dreams and I will delight in knowing that a part of your heart, however small, will be yearning for me.”
― Mayumi Cruz, Chroma Hearts

“I wished I could have loved you less. Maybe…just maybe, the pain would be more bearable? Would it have been? Would loving you less give me the strength to give you up and let go, when all I ever wanted to do was to clutch you in my heart and take you away from everyone?”
― Mayumi Cruz, Chroma Hearts

“Oblivion is bliss. It makes one feel at peace.
But not quite.
Not quite.
My brain is at peace.
But my heart isn't.
It longs for its other half.
The half that comprises the whole.
The half that matches its beat.
The half that makes it throb.
The half that makes it strong to overcome anything.
Even oblivion.”
― Mayumi Cruz, Chroma Hearts

“It was just a simple meeting of the eyes. There was nothing to it. She had done so with countless people. And she had stared at his eyes before, back at the cinema. But there was something different at that exact time, in that exact situation, with exactly the same person.
It was like being struck by lightning. Sudden, electric, paralyzing.
And she knew he felt it too. For some inexplicable reason, they both found themselves unable to look away, powerless to deny the pull. Hypnotized by each other’s brown irises, without knowing nor caring who wielded the magic wand of trance which put them into some kind of conscious stupor. While the world and everything in it faded in the background and the noises outside were hushed, Alex was achingly aware of herself. Of how drawn she was to the deep, swirling pools of dark honey staring into her soul, magnetic and mystic at the same time. Of how every nerve and every cell of her body were ablaze, tongues of flame flittering over them, singeing her with a torturous warmth. Of the blaring sound of her pulse pounding heavily beneath the onslaught of his sensual thumb. It was a scintillating torment she didn’t want to end.”
― Mayumi Cruz, It's Not Just Semantics

“Her lips, which taste still lingered on his mouth. By his normal standards, it was again a fleeting, chaste kiss. But it had struck him with the power of a thousand lightnings.
He’d tasted many a woman’s lips. And for longer periods of time. But they all paled in comparison with her lips. It was like he’d been feasting on sand for the longest time. Suddenly now, he had a taste of a sprinkling of sugar and realized it was what he had been missing, starving, craving for so long.
Now, all he could think of was sand and sugar.”
― Mayumi Cruz, It's Not Just Semantics

“Stop running and start feeling.”
― Mayumi Cruz, It's Not Just Semantics

“Once, I told you, ‘never settle unless it’s forever.’ I was wrong, Alex. Not about never settling. No, never about that. We must never settle for less than what we’re worth.”
Tears generously fell down Marjorie’s cheeks. “I was wrong about the forever part. Because it takes two to forever, Alex. You can’t have forever without taking risks, making choices, and working on them—together—for a lifetime. You only have a lifetime to write your own story. Make every second last.”
― Mayumi Cruz, It's Not Just Semantics

“Life is meant to be cherished, and lived, and risked. You’re scared of the past and all its mistakes. You’re afraid of the future and all its unpredictabilities. I understand that. But you have to learn to take courage. You have to let go and forgive. You have to trust and hope for a happy future.”
― Mayumi Cruz, It's Not Just Semantics

“I’m not saying that trusting and hoping will be enough. You have to work together, Alex. Together, you and him. Work on the present, the here and now, despite the odds. Say the words that needed to be said, do the things that had to be done. But only if you’re both completely, totally sure. You both have to be all in.”
― Mayumi Cruz, It's Not Just Semantics

“the kiss he was giving her today was oh, so achingly slow and heart-stirringly tender. It tugged at the deepest corners of her heart, pulled at every heartstring, stirred each nerve ending. It was so beautifully poignant she felt like crying and laughing at the same time. She felt him—every fiber, every atom of his being, even his very soul—meshed with her own.”
― Mayumi Cruz, It's Not Just Semantics

“There’s lust…and then there’s chemistry. There’s a big difference between the two.”

“Lust is a physical connection. Nothing more, nothing less. Chemistry, on the other hand, is beyond physical.”
― Mayumi Cruz, It's Not Just Semantics

“Green,” he muttered.
“What do you mean?”
"You're turning green, Miss Hernandez."
Feeling insulted, she growled, "What are you talking about? I'm not the Incredible Hulk!"
Chuckling, he shook his head. "No, you're not, thank goodness. But you're green. Green and jealous.”
― Mayumi Cruz, It's Not Just Semantics

“A feeling so alien persisted inside him. He searched for a word to describe it. The nearest word he could come up with was elation. He was full of immeasurable joy because she was simply there. She was near him, breathing the air he breathes, treading the very ground on which he walks. She was with him, on this island, in this very moment. And somehow, it gave him the most amazing kind of peace.”
― Mayumi Cruz, It's Not Just Semantics

“Never settle…unless it’s forever.”
― Mayumi Cruz, It's Not Just Semantics

“It wasn't your fault that she died. It wasn’t Ava’s fault, too, or anyone, for that matter. It's just how things were meant to be. There doesn't need to be a rational explanation for everything. You have to accept that and move on.”
― Mayumi Cruz, It's Not Just Semantics

“Can't you for once, just this once, stop over thinking, and just…feel?”
― Mayumi Cruz, It's Not Just Semantics

“You said you deserve the truth. For the first time in a long time, I’m being honest. I’m honest with you. Why can't you be honest with me? Why can't you be honest with yourself? Why can’t you be honest about us?”
― Mayumi Cruz, It's Not Just Semantics

“You’re not running around. You’re running away, as you’d always done.”
― Mayumi Cruz, It's Not Just Semantics