“How many together with whom I came into the world are already gone out of it.”

“How many boys like him were out there in the ether, holding on to their big brothers and sisters who were still alive? How many husbands were floating between life and death, clinging to their wives in this world? And how may millions and millions of people were there in the world like Charlie who wouldn't let go of their loved ones when they're gone?”

“How many others are out there? How many other lives are hidden, and hearts are seeking? How many would give anything in the world to be held by the person they love?”

“how many times had I begged Mom to divorce him already?”

“There are too many Dudleys already in this world”

“How do I know anything? How is it that my arms stretched out in front of me are so pale? How to I even know that they should be brown like riverbank mud, as they were when I was many goddesses with many worshippers, ruling in lands on the other side of a great, salty ocean? I used to be many, but now we are one, all squeezed together, many necks in one coffle. ”