“We didn't say anything because there was such an awful lot to say, and no language to say it in.”

“My name is growing all the time, and I’ve lived a very long, long time; so my name is like a story. Real names tell you the story of the things they belong to in my language, in the Old Entish as you might say. It is a lovely language, but it takes a very long time to say anything in it, because we do not say anything in it, unless it is worth taking a long time to say, and to listen to.”

“Not a word passes between us, not because we have nothing to say, but because we don't have to say anything”

“Typically, I didn't know what to say so I didn't say anything.”

“We didn't say or write anything for a long time. Normally silence like that was uncomfortable and awkward. Like you needed to say something to fill the empty space in the air. But it didn't feel like that with Samantha. Maybe it was because I couldn't say anything and fill the quiet, but I thought it was more about two people just being with each other, enjoying the slowdown and the rare sunshine.”

“I don't have much to say to that. I mean, I have a lot to say, so I don't say anything.”