"...thrown into the future like an arrow."
Bolden and Webb had been friends in their childhood, and the narrator presents the fact that the information on Bolden in Webb's brain was sleeping in childhood stories thrown into the future like an arrow. The simile elicits an idea of swiftness, perhaps in how the characters had matured, outgrowing their childhood stories.
"So perhaps the only clue to Bolden's body was in Webb's brain. Sleeping in childhood stories and now thrown into the future like an arrow."
The feel of Robin's breath on Bolden
As Robin places her mouth at the hollow of Bolden's neck, he uses a simile to compare the feel of her breath against her skin to the feel of a fly. In this way, the feel of her breath is perceived as being quite impactful. The narrator notes: "She put her mouth at the hollow of his neck. Your breath feels like a fly on me, about three or four of them on me."
The imagery of the narrator's fingers in Robin's hair
The imagery of the narrator's fingers stroking Robin's hair is made more explicit through the use of a simile. By comparing his fingers to the appearance of a comb within her hair, the reader's perception is enhanced. The narrator writes: "My fingers into her hair like a comb till the hair is tight against the unused nerves between my fingers."
Like soft glass
The concept of the smooth sliding into the water is made explicit through the use of a simile. In this way, the narrator is able to enhance a deeper conception of the action. The narrator notes: "In the water like soft glass. We slide in slowly, leaving our clothes by the large stone."
Like a spider
As Picket goes over the ice and through the front window, there is a screech as the 'thing' wraps around him like a spider's web. The use of this direct comparison plays the role of enhancing the imagery of how the thing got wrapped around Pickett's body. "A great creak as the thing folds over him like a spider web, he goes through, the hook of the strop pulls the chair and me frantic I won't let go, and I come through too…"
