“oh, they had to go before the endthey had to be back at ten”

“Edith who had still not fully recovered from the debauchery at the Hayeses' had glaced at the letter before dinner but she apparently lacked the energy to pry. "Oh to be young as you " was all she'd said before going to bed early.”

“Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness. Before my time, before the previous time, back and back and back. We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with difference. We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others.”

“we had allowed our eyes to meet only once- by accident as much as out of necessity- and not ten seconds had passed before the agony had become too great to bear and we had retreated into silence and coldness once more.”

“My chronic hiccups suddenly came back so I had to go the hospital." "I never heard of you having this condition before”

“Back before her life had begun to unravel. Or before she knew it was unraveling.”