I’d been haunted since my return from the war. My therapist talked about referential delusions and post-traumatic stress and a refusal to let go of the past.
-- Narrator (chapter 1)

Importance: Parnell describes to her reader the problems with which she has struggled since she returned home from active combat in Iraq. She is working with a therapist who has indicated that she suffers with PTSD, refuses to let go of the past, and feels that certain things she sees or experiences, such as the ghosts, carry messages just for her.

But those who used the trains to make it happen either forgot, or didn’t care, that they were forcing another man or woman to kill them.
-- Narrator (chapter 1)

Importance: Parnell sympathizes with Deke, the engineer who was driving the train that killed Samantha Davenport. She realizes that many people who commit suicide by jumping in front of trains do not think about the load...