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Carlson Riggs
Dani was Will’s childhood best friend until she was accidentally killed at eight years old in a revenge shooting gone wrong. The ghost of Dani gets on the elevator with Will on the sixth floor—her ghost has grown up to be about Will’s age but wears an adult version of the dress she was wearing when she died. Will describes her as beautiful and considers flirting with her until he realizes who she is. Dani is a sharp, no-nonsense rule-follower, so she scolds Buck for smoking and Will for having a gun when she first gets on. She pushes Will to think about the possible unintended consequences of killing Carlson Riggs. In particular, she’s interested to know what Will will do if he misses, prompting him to think about the possibility that he could accidentally kill another child like Dani. As the elevator gets to the fifth floor, Dani accepts Buck’s proffered cigarette and starts to smoke, something that Will suggests would’ve been out of character for the Dani he knew. Dani says little else for the rest of the ride and gets out at the lobby with everyone else.
Dani Quotes in Long Way Down
The Long Way Down quotes below are all either spoken by Dani or refer to Dani. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Six Quotes
Then
the bus-stop
lean back
to get a glimpse
of the world.
But the metal barrel
dug into my back,
making me wince,
making me obvious
and wack.
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SHE BRUSHED HER HAND AGAINST MINE
to get my attention,
which on any other
occasion would’ve
been the perfect
open for me to flirt
or at least try to do
my best impression of Shawn,
which was
his best impression of Buck.
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WHEN THEY SAID
you were gone,
I cried all night,
I confessed.
And the next morning,
over hard-boiled eggs
and sugar cereal,
Shawn taught me
Rule Number One—
no crying.
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I stood in the shower
the next morning
after Shawn taught me
the first rule,
no crying,
feeling like
I wanted to scratch
my skin off scratch
my eyes out punch
through something,
a wall,
a face,
anything,
so something else
could have
a hole.
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So I explained them to
her so she wouldn’t think
less of me for following
them
[...]
So that she knew I had
purpose
and that this was about
family
and had I known
The Rules when we
were kids I would’ve
done the same thing
for her.
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Dani Character Timeline in Long Way Down
The timeline below shows where the character Dani appears in Long Way Down. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Six
...people in movies do to show off their kids. The photo is of Will and Dani at eight years old: Will is wearing Shawn’s hand-me-downs: Dani is wearing a flower dress...
(full context)
Will’s eyes go wide and he asks, “Dani?” He realizes this girl is Dani, in the same flower dress from the photo. Her...
(full context)
...see the kids, God just puts his pictures away. Will confesses that when he learned Dani was dead, he cried all night. The next morning, Shawn taught him the first Rule:...
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Will awkwardly tells Dani that it’s good to see her, which he means wholeheartedly. He thinks that she would’ve...
(full context)
Dani died before she learned the Rules. Will explains them to her now so that she...
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...something that will help. Instead, Buck merely pulls out his cigarettes and offers one to Dani. She takes one and thanks Buck. Will asks if Dani smokes; in response, Dani asks...
(full context)
Five
The elevator feels like a box of smoke. Buck and Dani puff and puff on their cigarettes, but Will expects the smoke to rush out when...
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...water that drowning isn’t funny. When the hands release Will, he looks to Buck and Dani for help. They move to the corner, laughing and smoking.
(full context)
...well—the last part is just tripping him up. Uncle Mark demands that Will finished while Dani whimpers and Buck laughs. Will says again that he pulls the gun out, but he...
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Four
...Pop everything about Shawn, his mother, and the Rules, but he holds back because Buck, Dani, and Uncle Mark have warm, odd looks on their faces.
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...his face so he doesn’t cry. Will vows to never cry in front of Pop, Dani, or anyone else. Pop asks Will what he thinks he should do. Will says he...
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...guy. He was sure that Gee killed Mark—he had to be. Will leans next to Dani, thinking that Pop isn’t the patient, precise father he imagined; the Pop in his mind...
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Three
...how he knows that Riggs got Shawn. Will says it makes sense—Riggs avenged Frick’s death. Dani pipes up and asks Frick if he knows Riggs. Will gives a quick description of...
(full context)
Two
Everyone is thrilled to see Shawn. He slaps hands with Buck, spins Dani around, and embraces Uncle Mark. Beaming, Shawn approaches Pop. They hug and then shake hands...
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