“I was right at the edge of their circle, like the tail of a Q...”

“We hit the sidewalk, and dropped hands. How I wished, right then, that the whole world was a street.”

“I admired that stride; it was like he folded space in two with it.”

“I was with them for all of it, but more like an echo than a participant.”

“I loved my brother, but relying on him was like closing a hand around air.”

“I didn’t mind the quiet stretches. It was like we were trying out the idea of being side by side.”

“I knew if I ate anything of hers again, it would lkely tell me the same message: help me, I am not happy, help me -- like a message in a bottle sent in each meal to the eater, and I got it. I got the message.”