A line of socks waited for their matches on the top of the dryer.
'These poor socks have lost their spouses,' said Caroline. She picked one up and talked to it. 'Poor widowed sock.'
'It's true,' I said. 'Socks mate for life. Socks and swans.'
'But you can't just throw them out, can you? I always introduce them to another abandoned sock.' She picked up two lone socks and began to roll them together.
'Still,' I said, 'they're never really happy.'
'Oh, I don't know,' said Caroline. She unrolled the socks and held up both to inspect them. 'Wash them together enough, and they grow to look like each other. Just like an old married couple.' Then she rolled them back up and threw them in the basket.
'A sock love story,' I said. 'I've never before thought of the laundry as romantic,'
'Everything's romantic,' she said. 'But I suspect you're a cynic.'
-From Elizabeth McCracken's The Giant's House: A Romance
If you liked this quote, I highly recommend this book! These kind of off-beat (but really lovely, pause-and-reread-worthy) bits made McCracken's novel a real joy to to read.
