Quotation

Three Stations

An Arkady Renko Novel
The way people talked about luck, it sounded to Emma like a spoonful of water in the desert. There just wasn’t enough to go around. === He grew to hate the long conversations on the train, the forced bonhomie. His face hurt from grinning. === Someone was playing it now, despite the fact that the piano had not been tuned in years. Unexpected sharps and flats abounded, and some keys were totally dead. In short, Arkady thought, Russia set to music. === Some men chase butterflies; others let butterflies come to them. === He watched Emma’s tentative progress around a clown with a red nose, blowing bubbles. Past an acrobat on stilts, who took slow-motion strides. Past children of seesaw age queuing at a miniature roller coaster and past older kids tossing quoits. And through a maze of strollers, to the moment when Maya looked up and light leapt into her eyes.