The thought of him was a smoky cloud from hell that moved and crept in her head. - Katherine Anne Porter

[From Old Mortality]

...religion put claws on Aunt Sally and gave her a post to whet them on.

He really did look, Miranda thought, like a fine healthy apple this morning.

I thought you said you’re a painter,” said Denny. “I am. Timekeeping in a mine was the way I made my living, so I could work,” said David. Denny thought this over a while, and then said: “Look, that’s something I can’t understand — you spend time working at something you can’t make a living at, and then you take a job so you can make enough money to go on working at the work you can’t live on — it gets me down,” he said. “And you call yourself a painter, but why aren’t you just as much a timekeeper in a mine? Why can’t you call yourself a timekeeper?” “Because I really am not one,” said David, “I just make my living that way, or did.… Now I’m going to try to make a living painting, but if I can’t, why, I can always get some kind of job, to keep me while I paint.