Dark Matter: A Novel

All the tiny, seemingly insignificant details upon which my world hangs.

It’s the beautiful thing about youth. There’s a weightlessness that permeates everything because no damning choices have been made, no paths committed to, and the road forking out ahead is pure, unlimited potential.

that F. Scott Fitzgerald line: Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.

What if all the pieces of belief and memory that comprise who I am—my profession, Daniela, my son—are nothing but a tragic misfiring in that gray matter between my ears? Will I keep fighting to be the man I think I am? Or will I disown him and everything he loves, and step into the skin of the person this world would like for me to be?

Has your life’s work caused anything but pain?” He says, “Every moment, every breath, contains a choice. But life is imperfect. We make the wrong choices. So we end up living in a state of perpetual regret, and is there anything worse? I built something that could actually eradicate regret. Let you find worlds where you made the right choice.” Dani

“When you write something, you focus your full attention on it. It’s almost impossible to write one thing while thinking about another. The act of putting it on paper keeps your thoughts and intentions aligned.”

“And we’re not lost.” We are so fucking lost. Literally adrift in the nothing space between universes. “We’re not lost.”

“Forty ampoules left. Half are yours. That gives us each twenty chances to get this right. What do you want to do?” “I’m not sure. All I know at this point is that I’m not going back to my world.” “So do you want to stay together, or is this goodbye?” “I don’t know how you feel, but I think we still need each other. I think maybe I can help you get

I can’t stop thinking, I am here. I am actually in this place. It exists. At least for a moment, fear has left me. I’m filled with wonder. I say, “ ‘The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.’ ” Amanda looks at me. “Einstein’s words, not mine.”