Tracy Rees

It is extraordinary how the human mind sees what it anticipates and is blind to anything that could not be dreamed of.

Although the deepest of snow in living memory lay upon the ground, the sun was shining and Aurelia breathed easiest out of doors. The four walls of any given room could not give her the horizons she longed for - horizons she could measure with her eyes and strive to conquer with her own two legs. She was like a wild animal, Cook always said.

We both loved the birds and animals and plants. We both felt far happier out of doors. I felt a peace in nature that I could never find in the human world, as you know.

Like Aurelia, he is a lover of humanity in all its quirks and foibles, quick to delight and slow to judge.

Those dreams seem very simple to me now, a crude, crayon-drawn picture by a wistful child. But the beauty of impossible dreams is that they are impossible - the hows and whens don't really matter.

A bed is a place where so much of life is played out - births and deaths and passions and dreaming - all the most fundamental moments of our fragile human existence.

Combinations of people, who should have nothing to say to each other. Yet, with hearts that do not recognize it.

Disseminating knowledge is the human duty, sharing it about so that all can benefit.

Lady Vennaway is a horrible, horrible woman, is she not, Cookie?'Cook hesitated. "Everyone has their own story, even those we find the hardest. Best to accept things the way they are and count your blessings.