questions It was the last third of September, and still hot — the hottest late summer I can remember. All during that final sad push on the book, I kept thinking how much I missed her . . . but that never slowed me down. And here's something else: hot as it was in Derry, so hot I usually worked in nothing but a pair of boxer shorts, I never once thought of going to our place at the lake. It was as if my memory of Sara Laughs had been entirely wiped from my mind. Question 1: I never once thought of --- in this case, what’s the meaning of ‘once?’ ( at some time in the past or one time only or at any one time? ) Question 2: I never once thought of == I never EVER thought of? If not, why?