Atbash (Emma)

“And all at once she was elated. Where were the terrors she'd been told she should expect? She could not recognize them anywhere. The sweet earth opened out its wide four corners to her like the petals of a flower ready to be picked, and it shimmered with light and possibility till she was dizzy with it. [...] Why, she too, might live forever in this remarkable world she was only just discovering!”
― Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting

“The first house only is important; the first house, the road, and the wood.”
― Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting

“But in another part of her head, the dark part where her oldest fears were housed, she knew there was another sort of reason for staying at home: she was afraid to go away alone.
[...] The characters in stories she read always seemed to go off without a thought or care, but in real life– well, the world was a dangerous place. People were always telling her so. And she would not be able to manage without protection. They were always telling her that, too.”
― Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting

“Well, thought Winnie, crossing her arms on the windowsill, she was different. Things had happened to her that were hers alone, and had nothing to do with them. It was the first time. And no amount of telling about it could help them understand or share what she felt. It was satisfying and lonely, both at once.”
― Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting