Precipitate as weather, she appeared from somewhere, then evaporated, leaving only memory.

People's memories are maybe the fuel they burn to stay alive.

As with marathon runs and lengths of toilet paper, there had to be standards to measure up to.

Waiting for your answer is one of the most painful things I have ever been through. At least let me know whether or not I hurt you.

She gave me this look – she might have been watching from a lifeboat as the ship went down. Or maybe it was the other way around.

A regular wind-up toy world this is, I think. Once a day the wind-up bird has to come and wind the springs of this world. Alone in this fun house, only I grow old, a pale softball of death swelling inside me. Yet even as I sleep somewhere between Saturn and Uranus, wind-up birds everywhere are busy at work fulfilling their appointed rounds.

Suicides? Heart attacks? The papers didn't seem interested. The world was full of ways to die, too many to cover. Newsworthy deaths had to be exceptional. Most people go unobserved.