'Nameless God. Perhaps you cannot hear me, or perhaps you laugh at my
weakness. I do not wish to ask you this. But I am just a small and
simple man; I cannot control all things. The waters into which I lower
this boat seem cold to me, and I am afraid. Please, if you care and can
hear me, bring us safely to the Island.'
He paused, and for the first time in many days the woman was intently
aware of his existence. His eyes closed hard and his hands folded
together unknowingly. This was coming from the heart.
'I do not wish to die,' he continued. 'But if one of us must
die. . then let it be me. For I could not live without my Sylviana.
She is my life.' He choked back wretched tears until he felt a soft
pressure against him, and sweet arms enfolding his gnarled head and
scarred shoulders.
'Don't,' she said gently, reproaching herself for her coldness.
'I'm here with you. I'm with you.'
But to her surprise he did not return this overture. Instead he stepped
back, shook his head severely, and said to her. 'I thank you,
Sylviana. And I am sorry for this moment of weakness when I must be
strong. But whatever you feel for me, it must not be pity.'
'I only thought---'
'No. Not now. The passage we are about to make is perilous, and we
must put all our thought and effort into it.
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