" it was like the classic scene in the movies where one lover is on the train and one is on the platform and the train starts to pull away, and the lover on the platform begins to trot along and then jog and then sprint and then gives up altogether as the train speeds irrevocably off. except in this case i was all the parts: i was the lover on the platform, i was the lover on the train. and i was also the train.

— lorrie moore, a gate at the stairs.