“He was already fading. I knew that it wouldn't be long until he was just a vague image, however much I tried to cling onto his memory.”

“He'd already identified me as a heathen, and I hoped he wouldn't try to change that.”

“He was glad some of the pain was fading, had already faded so much since the first year. But it seemed more to be a trade off: with the pain went details and memories. People had said, ‘Time heals,’ but he realized time didn’t heal, time just eroded and confused, and he didn’t think that was the same thing at all.”

“He was trying to fit this Herakles onto the one he knew.”

“You won't forget me, right?" I tried to play it light so maybe he wouldn't see just how scared I was for tomorrow.For a second, the corners of his eyes pinched. Then he sat up, and I backed onto my knees. His hands straightened my T-shirt, tugging it down."No," he said. His face darkened. "I don't think it's possible to forget you.”

“She knew what Silas wanted. He wanted her to believe Amos was alive somewhere. Silas wanted help, clinging to his hope. She knew her son. For all her dislike of how much he was like his father, she knew him.”