Melissa

“And thus they built a stage on which to showcase their conjuring—and also to refine it.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, The Curiosities: A Collection of Stories

“Then she took the head out of the bag and showed it, and said to them, “Behold, the head of Holofernes, the chief captain of the army of Asshur, and behold, the canopy, in which he laid in his drunkenness. The Lord struck him by the hand of a woman.”
― Anonymous, The Complete Apocrypha: 2018 Edition with Enoch, Jasher, and Jubilees

“Ultramarathons have a way of stripping you bare. All the outside layers are peeled away like an onion and you are left alone with your doubts and fears and a finish line that feels like an eternity away. But step after step, minute after minute, hour after hour that finish line gets closer. And when you find it all the doubts and fears vanish, replaced by triumph.”
― Cory Reese, Nowhere Near First: Ultramarathon Adventures From The Back Of The Pack

“Midway upon the journey of our life I found myself within a forest dark, For the straight-forward pathway had been lost”
― Joseph Conrad, 50 Masterpieces You Have To Read Before You Die Vol: 01 [newly updated]