I tried to take solace in Holiday, our dog. I missed him in a way I hadn't yet let myself miss my mother and father, my sister and brother. That way of missing would mean that I had accepted that I would never be with them again; it might sound silly but I didn't believe it, would not believe it.

She no longer believed in talk. It never rescued anything.

She liked to imagine that when she passed the world looked after her, but she also knew how anonymous she was.

Like a medical procedure,' Ruth said. 'Intricate surgery is needed to patch up the planet.

He was beginning to understand: You were treated special and, later, something horrible would be told to you.

I wish you all a long and happy life

He tunneled into stories where weak men changed into strong half-animals or used eye beams or magic hammers to power through steel or climb up the sides of skyscrapers. He was the Hulk when angry and Spidey the rest of the time. When he felt his heart hurt he turned into something stronger than a little boy, and he grew up this way. A heart that flashed from heart to stone, heart to stone. As I watched I thought of what Grandma Lynn liked to say when Lindsey and I rolled our eyes or grimaced behind her back. "Watch out what faces you make. You'll freeze that way.