How it seemed like you could see everything, but certain things were blocked out, hidden.

I bet you can't eat ten bananas!" "I bet you're right.

But it was too early to know: there were always more pages to go, more words to be written, before the story was over.

You need demarcation." "Demarcation?" I asked. "It means a clear separation between two things," he told me. "A solid end before a clean beginning. No murky borders. Clarity.

But I always worked harder when I was up against something, or when someone assumed I couldn't succeed. That's what drove me, all those nights studying. The fact that so many figured I couldn't do it.

She was just a shell of her former self, functioning and talking but hardly alive.

If something doesn't work exactly right, or maybe needs some special treatment, you don't just throw it away. Everything can't be fully operational all the time. Sometimes, we need to have the patience to give something the little nudge it needs.