She laughed quietly at the doctor’s question. Only a fool would distinguish past from present in such a way. The future irrupts at all times, wanting to actualize itself in every decision we make; it tries, as hard as it can, to become the past. This is what distinguishes the future from mere fancy. The future happens. The Lord casts no one into hell; the spirits cast themselves down, according to Swedenborg. The spirits cast themselves into hell by their own free choice. And what is choice but a branch of the future grafting itself onto the stem of the present? Past father? Future father?
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Helen is truly following in her father’s footsteps.
Another question/observation about the book: has there even been one segment of quoted text? Of actual dialog? I don’t think so. This third-person accounting gives the story a mythical feel, like Homer the blind bard recounting the stories he always tells.
