Page 266: Shadow Cities

I wanted everything to remain the same. Because this, too, is typical of people who have lost everything, including their roots or their ability to grow new ones. They may be mobile, scattered, nomadic, dislodged, but in their jittery state of transience they are thoroughly stationary. It is precisely because you have no roots that you don’t budge, that you fear change, that you’ll build on anything, rather than look for land.

— from André Aciman, “Shadow Cities” 

Page 265: The Estrangement

Last night, before she fell asleep, she realized that time isn't just the healer. It’s also a voracious entity with insatiable appetite that will eat everything, including memories.
And dreams.
And feelings, even the good ones.

The estrangement of things and people she holds dear to her heart seems inevitable.
It is inevitable.