All that sunny afternoon, traveling north and east, Caroline believed absolutely in the future. And why not? For if the worst had already happened to them in the eyes of the world, then surely, surely, it was the worst that they left behind them now.

Each letter has a shape, she told them, one shape in the world and no other, and it is your responsibility to make it perfect.

Lately, the world felt fragile, like a blown egg, as if it might shatter beneath a careless touch.

You missed a lot of heartache, sure. But David, you missed a lot of joy.

It's good to be in love.

She didn't love him and he didn't love her; she was like an addiction, and what they were doing had a darkness to it, a weight.

After all these years, I feel so free. Who knows where I might fly?