The only place you belong is the place you can never go back to. - Patrick Ness

"There's always a choice," Viola says by my side.
"Oh, people like to say that," the Mayor says. "It makes them feel better."

HELP!”
I race to the square, crossing it, looking all around, listening out-
No.
No.
It’s empty.
Viola’s breathing heavy in my arms .
And Haven is empty.
I reach the middle of the square.
I don’t see nor hear a soul.
I spin around again.
“HELP!” I cry.
But there’s no one.
Haven’s completely empty.
There ain’t hope here after all.

"Yes", Kumiko said, seriously. "Exactly that. The extraordinary happens all the time. So much, we can't take it. Life and happiness and heartache and love. If we couldn't put it in story - "
"And explain it -"
"No!" she said, suddenly sharp. "Not explain. Stories do not explain. They seem to, but all they provide is a starting point. The story never ends at the end. There is always after. And even within itself, even by saying that this version is the right one, it suggests other versions, versions that exist in parallel. No, story is not an explanation, it is a net, a net through which the truth flows. The net catches some of the truth, but not all, never all, only enough so that we can live with the extraordinary without it killing us." She sagged a little, as if exhausted by this speech. "As it surely, surely would."