{"author":"Paula Stokes","author_id":"Paula+Stokes","total_quotes":53,"quotes":[{"text":"My name is Winter Kim. Today I killed a man. Soon I hope to kill another.","author":"Paula Stokes","tags":["ferocious","killing","revenge"],"id":7549,"author_id":"Paula+Stokes"},{"text":"I can’t seem to wipe away the blood. I rub my hands against my nightgown, but traces of the red remain, staining the lines of my palms and the crescents beneath my fingernails. I wipe harder, gathering and bunching the soft cotton inside my fists. The fabric has been slit up the center and for a moment I worry that I’ve been cut, that maybe the blood is my own. I try to ask what’s happening, but there’s a mask over my mouth and nose. Suddenly it hits me—I’m in an ambulance.I don’t remember how I got here.","author":"Paula Stokes","tags":["ambulance","beginning","blood","panic"],"id":11886,"author_id":"Paula+Stokes"},{"text":"The truth never hurts worse than finding out someone you care about lied to you.","author":"Paula Stokes","tags":["lying","truth"],"id":17942,"author_id":"Paula+Stokes"},{"text":"How do you make me smile when it seems like there’s nothing in the whole world to smile about?","author":"Paula Stokes","tags":["affection","kindness","love"],"id":22983,"author_id":"Paula+Stokes"},{"text":"Some people just want to be part of the story, even if it’s a story that’s completely fabricated.","author":"Paula Stokes","tags":["online-etiquette","stories"],"id":38892,"author_id":"Paula+Stokes"},{"text":"Emotions I’ve been working hard to hold back all summer start to spill out of me as I pull Elliott’s mouth toward my own. I’m so eager and impatient that our noses bump and teeth knock together before our lips slide into place. The frigid water is still lapping at my legs, but I can’t feel it anymore. My entire body is flush with heat, with desire. If it weren’t for the faintest hint of dance music from the clearing, I’d think that the two of us were completely alone.I wish the two of us were completely alone.","author":"Paula Stokes","tags":["desire","emotions","passion"],"id":52445,"author_id":"Paula+Stokes"},{"text":"Sometimes being poor means having to choose between your principles and your survival.","author":"Paula Stokes","tags":["poverty","survival"],"id":52858,"author_id":"Paula+Stokes"},{"text":"Sobs force their way out of my throat. I feel like I’m trapped in a disaster movie where everything is shriveling into darkness and ash. Sunflowers are being uprooted. Puppies are being trampled. Whole cities are crumbling to dust.","author":"Paula Stokes","tags":["humorous","relateable","sadness"],"id":56077,"author_id":"Paula+Stokes"},{"text":"When you care about someone, you can’t just turn that off because you learn they betrayed you.","author":"Paula Stokes","tags":["betrayal","feelings"],"id":68146,"author_id":"Paula+Stokes"},{"text":"Nothing stings quite like an unanswered text message.","author":"Paula Stokes","tags":["communication","relationships","texting"],"id":77635,"author_id":"Paula+Stokes"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":53,"pages":6,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}