But this thing, whatever it was, this mistlike something, hung there inside my body like a certain kind of potential. I wanted to give it a name, but the word refused to come to mind. I’m terrible at finding the right words for things. I’m sure Tolstoy would have been able to come up with exactly the right word

Time really is one big continuous cloth, no? We habitually cut out pieces of time to fit us, so we tend to fool ourselves into thinking that time is our size, but it really goes on and on.

That was the rule. Break one of my rules once, and I’m bound to break many more.

Okay, let’s put it this way. I would like to sleep with you. But it’s alright if I don’t sleep with you. What I’m saying is I’d like to be as fair as possible. I don’t want to force anything on anybody, any more than I’d want anything forced on me. It’s enough that I feel your presence or see your commas swirling around me.

I’ve built a wall around me, never letting anybody inside and trying not to venture outside myself

The silence grew deeper, so deep that if you listened carefully you might very well catch the sound of the earth revolving on its axis.

In a place far away from anyone or anywhere, I drifted off for a moment.