“I lay there, no longer fighting, since my head was spinning too much. And because I wasn’t going to win anyway. And because I kind of liked the feeling of sensual captivity, at least by this particular jailer.”

“I floated like driftwood in the ocean. I wasn’t worried about sharks, because my bathtub is much too shallow.”

“I came here because it's pine-dark and the ocean is wild. The kind of quiet-noise you need when there's too much going on in your head. Like the water and the woods are doing all the feeling, and I can hang out, quiet as a headstone, in a between place. A blank I can bear.”

“Either this guy really liked me, or I was inventing things in my head because I wanted him to like me. I was much too inexperienced to guess which.”

“In any case, in general, I prefer to avoid conflict when I can. Not because I'm afraid or because I'm too weak to fight back. But because conflict eats up your time. It is exhaustive in terms of energy you have to expend to be involved in it. More if you mean to win, and I'd never do it if I didn't mean to win. I'd rather spend my time on other things and in general, most people aren't worth that much of my time and energy.”

“I'm fighting the shock of having a guest in my room. I almost kick her out because it's going to hurt too much when my room is empty again.”