“It is the empty seats that listen most raptly.”

“With all of the seats empty, you could pretend everyone's just gone to the bathroom.”

“Life is a train ride, and at the many stations along the route, people important to us debark, never to get aboard again, until by the end of the journey, we sit in a passenger car where most of the seats are empty.”

“There’s an empty seat next to me in the ‘intensely aggravating’ section…and it’s got your name on it”

“Silence glimmers in the empty hallways, on the radios no one listens to anymore.”

“By 7:28, all the guests had arrived, and there were three empty seats: one for Eve, who had yet to show up, another for John, who would have a seat after he gave his daughter away, and a third that would remain empty, save for the ball of soft white yarn with two silver knitting needles in it.”