She laughed enough to migrate an entire flock of birds. That was how she said yes

Time was passing like a hand waving from a train I wanted to be on. I hope you never have to think about anything as much as I think about you.

Only someone who'd never been an animal would put up a sign saying not to feed them.

Your dad didn't die, so I won't be able to explain it to you.

What? she said once to herself, and then once aloud, What? She felt a total displacement, like a spinning globe brought to a sudden halt by the light touch of a finger. How did she end up here, like this? How could there have been so much - so many moments, so many people and things, so many razors and pillows, timepieces and subtle coffins - without her being aware? How did her life live itself without her?

I felt shame for living in a nation of unprecedented prosperity-a nation that spends a smaller percentage of income on food than any other civilization has in human history-but in the name of affordability treats the animals it eats with cruelty so extreme it would be illegal if inflicted on a dog.

In the end, everyone loses everyone. There was no invention to get around that, and so I felt, that night, like the turtle that everything else in the universe was on top of.