Even her name seemed empty, as though it had detached itself from her and was floating untethered in his mind. How am I supposed to live without you? It was not a matter of the body; his body would carry on as usual. The problem was located in the word how: he would live, but without Elspeth the flavour, the manner, the method of living were lost to him. He would have to relearn solitude.
Audrey NiffeneggerThe pain has left but I know that it has not gone far, that it is sulking somewhere in a corner or under the bed and it will jump out when I least expect it.
Audrey NiffeneggerBut you know: you know that if I could have stayed, if I could have gone on, that I would have clutched every second: whatever it was, this death, you know that it came and took me, like a child carried away by goblins.
Audrey NiffeneggerThe hardest lesson is Clareโs solitude. Sometimes I come home and Clare seems kind of irritated; Iโve interrupted some train of thought, broken into the dreary silence of her day. Sometimes I see an expression on Clareโs face that is like a closed door. She has gone inside the room of her mind and is sitting there knitting or something. Iโve discovered that Clare likes to be alone. But when I return from time traveling she is always relieved to see me.
Audrey Niffenegger