Northwood Quotes

“Do you know who I am?" His voice started to rise, growing louder and louder with each word. "I am a very important man in this town. I am . . ."
Cecilia was wise enough to know that anyone who had to tell you how important he was was nowhere near as important as he thought he was.”
― Brian Falkner, Northwood

“Cecilia listened carefully. There it was: a low rasp of breath, in and out. With all the snoring around them she hadn't noticed it before. She couldn't tell how far away it was, but it sounded close.
That was the last thing they needed. An insomniac lion.”
― Brian Falkner, Northwood

“It must be a matter of constant surprise to dogs that humans never actually get any smarter and just keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Of course cats figured this out years ago, which is why they treat humans with such contempt.”
― Brian Falkner, Northwood

“I cannot promise for another day," the lion said. 'And I cannot guarantee what other lions may do if they catch you alone in the forest. But tonight you are safe."
"Thank you," Cecilia said again. "May I touch you?"
"Touch me? Why?" the old lion asked.
"Because I want to," Cecilia said.
The lion looked at her for a moment, then nodded. Cecilia stepped forward and put her arms around the lion's neck, hugging him, feeling the coarse hair of his mane rub on her cheek and neck.
'Are you crazy?" she heard Avery say behind her.”
― Brian Falkner, Northwood

“It should be terrifying, Cecilia thought, but it's somehow beautiful. They were lost in a maze in a dark forest filled with man-eating lions, which should have been enough to have them cowering and crying on the ground. But instead Cecilia felt bold.
Perhaps she had just run out of fear. She had been using so much of it in the castle, with the King and his evil guards. Maybe fear was like water in a glass, and when you used it all up and there was nothing left in the glass, then you weren't afraid anymore.
Cecilia was not afraid.”
― Brian Falkner, Northwood

“But art thou sure, little chick?"
Cecilia thought that if the King called her a little chick one more time she would set fire to his beard.”
― Brian Falkner, Northwood

“Do it or I'll make you do it," the big bear guard said in a low rasp.
"Make me? What are you going to do?" she asked, starting to get angry. "Throw me in a dungeon? I'm only ten. That wouldn't be very nice.”
― Brian Falkner, Northwood

“Many years ago there were no lions in Northwood. There were no black lions, nor golden-brown ones (which is the more usual color). There were no pink lions, green lions, or purple polka-dotted lions.
No lions at all.
But now there are lions. Nobody knows how many, but they are there, all right.”
― Brian Falkner, Northwood

“Cecilia gasped.
Perhaps the forest sensed she was coming. Or maybe it was just a trick of the breeze. But at that moment, two edges of the mist curled up and a gap opened in the middle. And if you looked at it a certain way and used just a little bit of imagination, you could almost say that the mist was smiling a dark and unpleasant smile.”
― Brian Falkner, Northwood

“An elephant trumpeted, raising its trunk into the sky, as they flew overhead. To the untrained eye, it seemed like a greeting. But Cecilia, although she didn't speak Elephant very well, knew that it was really saying, "What the heck is that?”
― Brian Falkner, Northwood

“That same day, Rocky had opened his eyes for the first time and looked around him, and Cecilia had cried and hugged him. He licked her, and she asked him to stop because it was all gooey. He said he was sorry, but he couldn't help it.
He was a dog, after all.”
― Brian Falkner, Northwood