“If I allowed it, he'd strap on a proton pack and follow me around the country”

“The thought makes me reach back for my knife, my sharp, throat-cutting security blanket, as I look around.”

“They shouldn't be allowed to teach math so early in the morning.”

“Part of her followed him, wherever it was that he went.”

“I’m not a superhero,” I say. It’s an awful tag. It’s egotistical, and it doesn’t fit. I don’t parade around in spandex.”

“But I don't think she ever figured on raising a son by herself. Her family was supposed to form a circle. Now we walk around like a photograph that my dad's been cut out of.”

“She doesn't like to talk about him, and I know that she hasn't been the same since he died. She's not quite here anymore; there's something missing in all of her smiles, like a blurry spot or a camera lens out of focus. Part of her followed him, wherever it was he went.”