Midwinterblood Memory and the Past Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

It's not even as if she is beautiful, not in the way people usually mean. She's more than pretty, that's what he can say, but it's not that that has caught him. It is simply her face, her eyes. The moment he saw them something clicked. He suddenly realized what it was. He recognized her face. As if seeing an old friend, long forgotten, and that triggered something else inside him. A thought that bothered him. (1.3.25)

Eric remembers Merle. But how can that be? They've never met. Oh, Eric—just sit back and relax. You're about to remember a whole lot of things.

Quote #2

Tor. What is it about the man? His eye is a little unsettling, maybe, but Eric knows there's something else. The man has been nothing but helpful, so what is it that makes Eric feel wary of him?

He brings back to mind the thought that bothered him at Tor's house. He recognized Merle's face.

Recognized. But that's not possible, because he has never seen her before. (1.3.31-33)

Ever had a strong reaction to a stranger like this? It's really bothering Eric. There's nothing in his past that would tell him anything about Tor or Merle, but he just has these feelings about them, like he knows them.

Quote #3

They swim together, far out to sea.

They duck under the surface, twisting and turning, hand in hand where they can, and gliding through the deep, Eric's lips brush her neck, just once. Finally they come up for air. And when they do, they do so laughing.

"This is ridiculous!" shouts Eric, and Merle shrugs, and smiles, as if to say, so what?

Eric tries again.

Merle is a few strokes away. He pulls his way over to her, and tries again.

"Have we done this before?"

Merle shrugs again.

"I feel like we've done this before," he says, intently. "But a long time ago. A very long time ago." (1.10.27-35)

Oh, Merle, you're so coy. Swimming in the sea seems familiar because they have done this before—it's in Eric's past (but in the reader's future). These memories just won't be repressed.