It marked the beginning and, of course, an end. At that moment a chapter, no, a whole stage of my closed. Had I known, and had there been a spare second or two, I might have allowed myself a little nostalgia.

She loved him, though not at this particular moment.

If life was a dream, then dying must be the moment when you woke up. It was so simple it must be true. You died, the dream was over, you woke up. That's what people meant when they talked about going to heaven. It was like waking up.

All this happiness on display is suspect... If they think - and they could be right - that continued torture and summary executions, ethnic cleansing and occasional genocide are preferable to an invasion, they should be sombre in their view.

We know so little about each other. We lie mostly submerged, like ice floes, with our visible social selves projecting only cool and white.

Nothing was to be lost by beginning at the beginning.

Looking after children is one of the ways of looking after yourself.