{"quotes":[{"text":"Sam,” Astrid yelled. “Quick.”Sam thought he was too far gone to respond, but he somehow started his feet moving again and went up to where Little Pete was standing and Astrid kneeling.There was a girl lying in the dirt. Her clothing was a mess, her black hair ratty. She was Asian, pretty without being beautiful, and little more than skin and bones. But the first thing they noticed was that her forearms ended in a solid concrete block.Astrid made a quick sign of the cross and pressed two fingers against the girl’s neck. “Lana,” Astrid cried.Lana sized up the situation quickly. “I don’t see any injuries. I think maybe she’s starving or else sick in some other way.”“What’s she doing out here?” Edilio wondered. “Oh, man, what did someone do to her hands?”“I can’t heal hunger,” Lana said. “I tried it on myself when I was with the pack. Didn’t work.”Edilio untwisted the cap from his water bottle, knelt, and carefully drizzled water across the girl’s cheek so that a few drops curled into her mouth.“Look, she’s swallowing.”Edilio broke a tiny bite from one of the PowerBars and placed it gently into the girl’s mouth. After a second the girl’s mouth began to move, to chew.“There’s a road over there,” Sam said. “I think so, anyway. A dirt road, I think.”“Someone drove by and dumped her here,” Astrid agreed.Sam pointed at the dirt. “You can see how she dragged that block.”“Some sick stuff going on,” Edilio muttered angrily. “Who would do something like this?","author":"Michael Grant","tags":["angry","astrid","cement","dumped","edilio","feed","girl","heal","hunger","lana","sam-temple","sick"],"id":67750,"author_id":"Michael+Grant"},{"text":"Accomplishments don’t erase shame, hatred, cruelty, silence, ignorance, discrimination, low self-esteem or immorality. It covers it up, with a creative version of pride and ego. Only restitution, forgiving yourself and others, compassion, repentance and living with dignity will ever erase the past.","author":"Shannon L. Alder","tags":["accomplishments","anger","betrayed","bitterness","blindsighted","blown-off","broken-hearted","compassion","confidence","creativity","dignity","dumped","ego","erasing-the-past","false-confidence","false-worth","forgiveness","forgiving-others","freedom","games","giving","growth","hatred","hidden-agendas","hurt","ignored","inner-joy","inner-peace","live-free","low-self-esteem","move-on","new-beginnings","obvious","peace","pride","proud","proving-worth","real-value","rebel","repentance","restituition","revenge","seeking-approval","self-hatred","self-love","spiritual-growth","start-over","steps-of-repentance","stubborn","the-past","truth","truth-follower","value"],"id":115180,"author_id":"Shannon+L.+Alder"},{"text":"A best friend is the only one that walks into your life when the world has walked out.","author":"Shannon L. Alder","tags":["acceptance","adversity","best-friend","breakups","caring","child","cruelty","dad","dumped","endings","family","friendship","hurt","illness","love","mental-disorders","misunderstood-fights","mom","pain","rejection","sorrow","spouse","support","support-system","tough-times","trials","true-friendship"],"id":186145,"author_id":"Shannon+L.+Alder"},{"text":"I'm dumping the whole box back into your life Ed, every item of you and me. I'm dumping this box on your porch, Ed, but it's you, Ed, who is getting dumped.","author":"Daniel Handler","tags":["break-up","breaking-up","dumped","heartbreak"],"id":247345,"author_id":"Daniel+Handler"},{"text":"People were dumped all the time and their tears did not swallow dry land.","author":"Valentine Glass","tags":["broken-up","crying","dump","dumped","tears"],"id":268718,"author_id":"Valentine+Glass"},{"text":"You dump trash. You dump yard waste and old ripped couches that smell like body odor and forgetfulness. You dump cigarette butts and banana peels and hazardous waste. But people?","author":"Autumn Doughton","tags":["dumped","heartbreak"],"id":372708,"author_id":"Autumn+Doughton"},{"text":"A friend of mine told a story about a date with a guy she was really excited about: He stood her up. He then called her, begging her forgiveness and giving some excuse. She told him to get lost, telling him that he only gets one shot with her, and he blew it.","author":"Greg Behrendt","tags":["cheating","date","dating","dumped","he-s-just-not-that-into-you"],"id":413140,"author_id":"Greg+Behrendt"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":7,"pages":1}}