“Imagine: If shifting from one universe to another is like moving up or down to parallel layers, overlapping with one universe, then going to another timeline is like taking a jump to the left.' 'Or a step to the right,' Jena said wryly.”

“It was like I existed in a kind of parallel universe, thinking thoughts and feelings that no one else understood.”

“He got right down in the dark between heartbeats, and rested there. And then he saw that another one wasn't going to come. That's it. That's the last. He looked at the dark. I would like to take this opportunity, he said, to pray for another human being.”

“They say that parenting is like dancing. You take one step, your child takes another.”

“That's what memory is like: layers, one overlapping another, and compacting down the way old leaves slowly crumble and turn to a rich peaty soil, nourishing the new things that will grow. It's why it's important, remembering things. It's why it matters, when the memories aren't there, and no one fills in the gaps for you.”

“Time seems to overlap, like the shadows of leave pressing down on other leave, layer upon layer.”