“Who was there to soothe him as life’s rug was snatched from under his sleeping feet?”

“Women were created from the rib of man to be beside him, not from his head to top him, nor from his feet to be trampled by him, but from under his arm to be protected by him, near to his heart to be loved by him.”

“Under the night rug, the star rug, moon as lantern, man in the moon watching over us, dog star at his heels, we lay.”

“So here, patient listener: your soothing epilogue. Imagine him happy. Imagine him spinning in circles... Imagine his heaven, where he can float through characters and books at will. (Let's dream him up a king, a giant, a boy who can fly.) Imagine him already there, under his covers with the flashlight.”

“Sometimes, to relieve stress, he would soak his feet in the toilet, a practice that was not as soothing for his collegues.”

“There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.”