"Five, six, seven days. And then Clarisse was gone. He didn't know what it was about these afternoons, but it was not seeing her somewhere in the world. The lawn was empty, the trees empty, the street empty, and at first he did not even know he missed her or was even looking for her. There was a vague stirring of disease in him... He almost turned back to make the walk again, to give her time to appear. He was certain if he tried the same route, everything would work out fine."