“At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in.”

“À l’aurore, armés d’une ardente patience, nous entrerons aux splendides Villes. (In the dawn, armed with a burning patience, we shall enter the splendid Cities.)”

“There once was a girl who found herself dead.She peered over the ledge of heavenand saw that back on earthher sister missed her too much,was way too sad,so she crossed some pathsthat would not have crossed,took some moments in her handshook them upand spilled them like diceover the living world.It worked.The boy with the guitar collidedwith her sister.”There you go, Len,” she whispered. “The rest is up to you.”

“I was waiting for the longest time, she said. I thought you forgot.It is hard to forget, I said, when there is such an empty space when you are gone.”

“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.”

“You don’t need wings to be an angel.You just need a heart of gold.”

“If you go to heaven, better earn it. If you go to hell, better earn it too! Either way, you’d better burn for what you live for and for where you are going. And you better get there knowing you burned for it. What do you feel? What do you want? What do you burn for? This is what makes you human, this is what gives you a soul. This is what earns you heaven or hell.”

“Neither to heaven nor to hell, my journey is towards my home.”

“A lasting happiness cannot be attained by seeking temporary happiness.”

“People often speak of hell, not wanting to go there, avoiding it..etc. I never had that problem because hell is a state of mind. Look around you; rape, murder, wars, hatred, envy…my friend; you’re already there!!”

“Hundreds of wise men cannot make the world a heaven, but one idiot is enough to turn it into a hell.”

“LEONATOWell, then, go you into hell?BEATRICENo, but to the gate; and there will the devil meet me, like an old cuckold, with horns on his head, and say ‘Get you to heaven, Beatrice, get you to heaven; here’s no place for you maids:’ so deliver I up my apes, and away to Saint Peter for the heavens; he shows me where the bachelors sit, and there live we as merry as the day is long.”

“Max.” Fang let go of my hand. “Right now, it’s really all about—us.” He swooped down to the right in a big semicircle, ending facing me. Slowly we climbed upward, until we were almost vertical, flying straight up to the sun. While carefully synchronizing our wings—they almost touched—Fang leaned in, gently put one hand behind my neck, and kissed me. It was just about as close to heaven as I’ll ever get, I guess. I closed my eyes, lost in the feeling of flying and kissing and being with the one person in the world I completely,utterly trusted. When we finally broke apart, we looked down at the others, who were way far below us now. Angel was shading her eyes, looking up at us with a big smile. She was sitting on a dolphin’s back, and I hoped soon someone would explain to the dolphin that he shouldn’t let Angel take advantage of his good nature. Still looking up at us, Angel gave us a big thumbs-up. “She approves,” Fang said with a hint of amusement.”Jeez,” I wondered aloud. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“After all, is not a real Hell better than a manufactured Heaven?”