Linda Heavner Gerald received a silver medal for Fiction from FAPA (Florida Authors and Publishers Association)

And like tea dissolving in hot water, the sun dissolved in the sky… creating a velvet horizon, announcing for the stars’ night dance with the moon, the awaited joy for the wounded souls. -- From Bali – The Rebirth

Besides the pain in my gut, why shouldn't I laugh? I've almost escaped death in a foreign country.

I think that Richard was more of a one-girl-for-the-rest-of-your-life-marry-and-make-a-family kind of guy.

Your imagination and some masturbation is a much better alternative to finding out what kind of person a bit of casual sex transforms you into.

Don't get me wrong, she was an attractive girl, but the last thing she needed was to get mixed up with me.

There has to be at least one other reason besides money that makes you do the things that you do.

There's no need to blame fate or destiny for a stupid decision.

The day, like all good days, passed far too quickly.

She's happy to be home but being home means that it's an end to her adventure and escape.

Our bags will be light because it's the best way to travel.

I'd gotten on the piss and it had kicked me the fuck off. Hard.

Besides, if it was the wrong choice, what difference was one more bad decision going to make?

Your choices can only be limited by your mind.

Don't just hope, dear. Plan and do. Only reserve hope for the things you cannot control.

Living the rest of my life in Kerobokan, waiting to die, was what I had in front of me.

You need a break every once in a while to enjoy the everyday and you need the everyday to enjoy the break you take every once in a while.

Reassuring thoughts have a funny way of getting stuck on repeat. Then you wake up one day and you can't remember where you put the last thirty years of your life.

However, with a gut full of heroin, it's hard to be an optimist.

Can't get myself down by thinking about what could have been, right?

I'd gotten high enough to fly through time.

I figured this guy was a fair dinkum Australian. The type of guy that worked the land all day, cracked open a beer or two at night and called girls 'sheilas'.

That's one of those questions that you think of a better answer for five minutes after you've answered it.

I figured, what harm could come from a little bit of fun? Crabs. The Canadian girl gave me crabs.

I figured that maybe he was only hanging around for the tea and tobacco and when one ran out, so would he.

Sure, I might not be someone to look up to, but you're no role model either.

By the first mouthful I knew that I was going to get drunk that night. The drink tasted too good not to.

What's inside is none of your business. Your business is getting it for him and getting it to him.

Your choice is your choice and you need to accept what happens, not shift the blame to someone else if it doesn't turn out your way.

I don't make people smoke pot or meth, snort coke, put pills or tabs in their mouths or shoot themselves up with heroin. I just transport the stuff.

I'm not a hero, though. I'm just a man.

It'll be the biggest decision of my life. Knowing me, I'll probably make the wrong choice.

Anxiety's already tingling my skin.

A donation to the police officer's back pocket should have you on your way without a problem.

Appreciate the negatives. Because the negatives are what you learn from to make more positives.

Yeah," I said because it led to more options than 'no'.

Do you want me to call the internet police for you?

Natural art is the most amazing form of art there is.

In my defence, I did like my ex until she cheated on me. I just thought the feeling was love.

Staying out all night and sleeping most of the day is quite a drain on the wallet.

I guess my biggest problem is that I find it easier to relapse than to carry through.

My old ways were much more appealing than my new ways.

When you're in the safety of the future, the past doesn't seem so relevant.

I have two moods when I get drunk. The common mood is the lazy, happy-go-lucky guy. The uncommon mood is the frustrated, self-deprecating guy. That night was the latter.

I was far too nervous to be concerned about contributing to the conversations.

I also smoked two cigarettes, which was pretty good considering I could have smoked five if I'd really tried.

You'll be making so much cash that you won't know what to waste it on.

For you, I do morning price.

My biggest problem is that my flight is to depart from Denpasar International Airport in Indonesia, where the penalty for drug trafficking is death by firing squad.

If there's anything worse in this world than a bad batch of babi guling, it's hindsight.

He seemed like he was baiting me to ask, like he wanted me to know his troubles but wanted me to ask first.

Don't talk about heaven if you've never been to Bali.

I guess having one hundred and four condoms full of heroin in your guts and the thought of a firing squad in your head make will make most things seem insignificant.

A gut full of heroin and the looming possibility of bunking in an overcrowded cell in Kerobokan to await my death makes you feel a bit sorry for some of the things you've done.

My job had been to get the package from point A to point B and what happened after that did not need to concern me. I was just the mule.

All you young Aussies just want to fuck and get fucked up, no?

By three in the afternoon, after one Bintang too many, I was absolutely smashed and feared that trying to stand may end badly.

Anyone can do the wrong thing if they really want to.