Airborn Quotes

“Why do you need to fly so much?” she asked.
“If I don’t, it’ll catch up with me.” The words just came out.
“What will?”
I took my hands from my face, panting. I stared out at the storm.
“Unhappiness.”
― Kenneth Oppel, Airborn

“You two were in a cave together?’ said Miss Simpkins in horror.
‘Yes,’ said Kate, ‘and it was very, very dark.”
― Kenneth Oppel, Airborn

“Bloody Hell!”
― Kenneth Oppel, Airborn

“The sky pulsed with stars. Some people say it makes them lonesome when they stare up at the night sky. I can't imagine why. There's no shortage of company. By now there's not a constellation I can't name. Orion. Lupus. Serpens. Hercules. Draco. My father taught me all of their stories. So when I look up I see a galaxy of adventures and heroes and villains, all jostling together and trying to outdo one another, and I sometimes want to tell them to hush up and not distract me with their chatter. I've glimpsed all the stars ever discovered by astronomers, and plenty that haven't been.”
― Kenneth Oppel, Airborn

“Is there anything you can't do, Mr. Cruse?" she said.
"I can't sing," I said.”
― Kenneth Oppel, Airborn

“Never climb a tree in a long dress," Kate panted, coming up behind me.

"I'll remember that," I said.”
― Kenneth Oppel, Airborn

“I whirled to see the snake springing up from the ferns and bouncing towards us, fast. This time we turned and ran. Every time I looked around, the snake was still there. I wanted to laugh and scream at the same time. The little creature was ridiculous. It was terrifying, and it was also gaining on us.”
― Kenneth Oppel, Airborn

“There's fancy math to explain all this, of course. (...) But when you saw the Aurora, saw her floating and rising, you forget all about the match and just stared.”
― Kenneth Oppel, Airborn

“I'm glad being shipwrecked appeals to you."

"Captain Walken made a point of avoiding that word."

"Well, he was trying to keep everyone jolly, wasn't he. It's no good having everyone running around screaming and eating each other."

"I wouldn't run around screaming," she said. "I can see eating someone in a pinch, though. If it really came down to it, I mean."

"I don't doubt it."

"Come on, Matt Cruse, don't you find it just a bit exciting, being here?"

"No."

She looked at me as if I'd suggested we stop breathing for a few hours.”
― Kenneth Oppel, Airborn

“I couldn't imagine such men at rest, their faces smooth and innocent despite the wickedness of their hearts.”
― Kenneth Oppel, Airborn

“They’re eating liked starved apes,” Baz muttered as he swished past me with more food. “Haven’t they had enough yet?” he wondered a minute later when we passed again. “Keep your hands well clear of their forks,” he warned me as we pirouetted round each other at the dumbwaiter. “I was nearly stabbed clean through. They’ll be eating the cutlery soon!” “And us if we’re not quick enough,” I added. Baz guffawed then coughed to cover it up.”
― Kenneth Oppel, Airborn

“The past twenty-four hours had passed in a blur, for the entire crew was busy tending to the ship, refueling and reprovisioning her. Overnight we'd topped up our gas cells with hydrium and pumped water into our ballast and drinking tanks.”
― Kenneth Oppel , Airborn

“I didn't need to be aloft to find happiness. It could find me wherever I was: on the Aurora, or here in Paris, or back home with Mom and Isabel and Sylvia.”
― Kenneth Oppel, Airborn

“People headed off to bed earlier than usual, no doubt exhausted by watching the crew work all day.”
― Kenneth Oppel, Airborn

“I knew nothing of the matter, so said nothing. It made me feel rather downcast, all this knowledge locked away in books that I didn't know and likely never would. I loved books, but they were expensive and heavy and reading them took time I rarely had.”
― Kenneth Oppel, Airborn

“There was nothing left to say, and we all headed in our different directions, keeping our fears bottled up inside us. Airborne, nothing frightened me. But the idea of crash-landing on the sea, water filling us, made my stomach churn. The Aurora was my home, and I couldn't bear the thought of abandoning her to the waves.”
― Kenneth Oppel, Airborn

“I tried to lure sleep to me, but she slowly shook her raven tresses and would not come back.”
― Kenneth Oppel, Airborn