“She had learnt a painful lesson, she thought – that as they die, the ones we love, we lose our witnesses, our watchers, those who know and understand the tiny little meaningless patterns, those words drawn in water with a stick. And there is nothing left but the endless flow.”

Anne Rice was an American novelist of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. She gained fame for her gothic and erotic vampire saga *Interview with the Vampire*, which redefined the genre with its psychological depth and lyrical prose. Her work often explored themes of desire, morality, and the supernatural with a blend of sensuality and philosophical inquiry.