That the last two letters in her name were the first two in his, a silly thing he never mentioned to her but caused him to believe that they were bou… - Jhumpa Lahiri

She had preferred being on the plane, detached from the earth, the illusion of sitting still.

I am not the only man to seek his fortune far from home, and certainly I am not the first. Still, there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination.

Most people trusted in the future, assuming that their preferred version of it would unfold. Blindly planning for it, envisioning things that weren't the case. This was the working of the will. This was what gave the world purpose and direction. Not what was there but what was not.