“I chuckled to myself and kept walking. The Universe had proven Curran wrong: a person who aggravated him more than me did, in fact, exist.”

“... the more I learned, the more conscious did I become of the fact that I was ridiculous. So that for me my years of hard work at the university seem in the end to have existed for the sole purpose of demonstrating and proving to me, the more deeply engrossed I became in my studies, that I was an utterly absurd person.”

“When Sterling’s eyesight did finally fail him completely, we wereup in years, content to sit in our garden and reflect on what awondrous and exciting life we’d led. He did not see my hair fade intosilver. For him it was always a vibrant red. I watched him agegracefully and with dignity. He leaned on me much more than hedid his walking stick, which was how it should be, because when Ineeded him most, he was always there for me. Each day I thought Icould love him no more than I already did—and the followingmorning I was always proven wrong, for I awoke loving him just alittle bit more.”

“The universe shrank to Curran and his pain. I had to break him free. Nothing else mattered.”

“Curran scrutinized Mart’s face. “I can’t figure out if he wants to kill you or screw you.”“I’ll be glad to make the choice for him.”Curran looked back at me. “Why is it you always attract creeps?”“You tell me.” Ha! Walked right into that one, yes, he did.”

“I hated him. I hated them all. They made me hate myself even more than I already did.”