“His thoughts were clearly still shoving him further away, toward some ultimate dark drama that he might or might not have actually lived through but whose telling would let out the pressure inside his skull.”

“Though I no longer liked him or respected him, the thought of his disapproval frightened me.”

“endless soaring toy-rocket dreams and schemes that let out a sad, weak 'pop' at their high climax point and then flake apart as they tumble toward some thorn patch that's also a hatching ground for baby snakes”

“Reliving his degradation had struck some spark in him and it was glowing now like a blown-on coal.”

“Our habit of wishing backward from what is to what might have been is the soft but persistent tapping that cracks the crystal.”

“I understood that no one lives forever, but there are certain people whose power and presence so thoroughly penetrate your view of things that contemplating their absence feels as strange as imagining having never been born yourself.”

“They lived in a blurry world, those two, where clear, consistent intentions weren't required.”