[...] the quiet break of soul that comes when you realize that what looked like a rainbow was actually only a trick of the light.

We are all, I suppose, beholden to our parents - the question is, how much?

I was living alone before, Campbell, if that's what you're asking." She looks at me over the edge of her wine glass. "How about you?"
"I have six wives, fifteen children, and an assortment of sheep."
Her lips curve. "People like you always make me feel like I'm underachieving.

But it feels like we are sitting on a tight bench of a bus with a stranger between us, one that neither of us is willing to admit to or mention, and so we find ourselves talking around him and through him and sneaking glances when the other one isn't looking. How am I supposed to think about Anna Fitzgerald when I'm wondering whether Julia has ever woken up in someone's arms and for just a moment, before the sleep cleared from her mind, thought maybe it was me?

That's the life, she said to me, as we watched a puppy chase its own tail. That's what I want to be next.
I had laughed. you would wind up as a cat, I told her. They don't need anyone else.
I need you, she replied.
Well, I said. Maybe I'll come back as catnip.

I have an iron lung, and the dog keeps me from getting too close to magnets.
[...]
I have SARS. He's tallying the people I infect.
[...]
I'm nearsighted. He helps me read the road signs.
[...]
I'm a recovering alcoholic. The dog gets between me and a beer.
[...]
I have an irregular heartbeat and he's CPR certified.
[...]
Color-blind. He tells me when the traffic lights change.
[...]
He translates for my Spanish-speaking clients.
[...]
He's a chick magnet.
[...]
I'm a lawyer. He chases ambulances for me.