he prefers slippery sentences that leave room for escape . her mother , who had till this point been sitting silently at the dining room table , stood up and crossed the room to stand next to her husband . keeping things calm with the martians . my mouth opened in a silent , oh , and i thought that perhaps nick , with his odd way of seeing the world , might understand my mother better than i did . we might really get some clues if we understand what the arch is used for . 