““He turned away from the wall and lay on his back instead. He was tired and he wanted to sleep. Every time he tried, the past pushed in. He didn't like it. It wasn't the real past, anyway, it was a sweeter, happier version, a half-lie, with all the pleasures and none of the pains. It was a trick, a falsehood that omitted its own ugliest parts and pretended to be something it wasn't, the way the past liked to do.””
