“Id ask you to be careful tomorrow, if I thought youd listen to me, I said to him.He looked sympathetic but annoyed. Mum, Im not a baby anymore. Then sensing that I was on the verge of crying, he hu...”

“I’d ask you to be careful tomorrow, if I thought you’d listen to me,’ I said to him.He looked sympathetic but annoyed. ‘Mum, I’m not a baby anymore.’ Then sensing that I was on the verge of crying,...”

“Please,’ Neil shook the stinging fluid out of his eyes. Don’t beg. You’ll appear weak DO NOT BEG. ‘Please, I’m begging you. Don’t take my bike. It’s all I have left and I ... I ...’ he looked behin...”

“Seek a slower, simpler life.”

“There is no such thing as escape after all, only an exchange of one set of difficulties for another. It wasn't Mark or the farm or marriage I was trying to shake loose from but my own imperfect sel...”

“Talking won't change it. But sometimes it was what she wanted most, to tell someone; often, though, she just wanted to escape those horrid feelings, to escape herself, so there was no pain, no fear...”