WARD RICKER

She had heard it approaching and stood behind a tree which overlooked the bay, watching it draw near the shoreline. The object looked like something she had seen before, she thought, but she couldn't remember for sure. She had seen many objects, large and small, float into the bay. She had seen animals swimming in the feared water and had felt sad that they could swim so freely while the thought of getting near the water filled her with fear. But this object with its steady low murmur--well, she couldn't remember.

She noticed that there were two things inside that moved around. She wondered if they were animals. She knew all kinds of animals on the land she knew so well. She knew how to catch any of them if she had to. And this was the time when she had to. The rains had come and gone, and then so had most of the fruits upon which she survived so well. Now was the time of year when there were few plants that she could eat, and she had started catching the animals so that she could eat during this season. It made her sad to kill them, these beings that were in many ways like her.

She never killed those ones that climbed through the trees. She did not know that they were called monkeys. She had no idea that they were called anything. For that matter, she had no idea that anything was called anything, for she had never seen anyone to hear them call anything anything.

Or had she?

These animals that climbed through the trees, though, seemed so much like herself. She felt they were like her, that perhaps she was somehow a part of them. Sometimes they would climb down from their high branches and get close to her. She had always wanted to touch one of them, but they never came quite close enough to let her. She must not be one of them she had decided. Even though they had legs and arms with hands that grasped like hers, they would not admit her to be one of them. She could climb through the trees, too, with her hands and feet, but she could not climb the way they could, scampering seemingly effortlessly through the tops of the trees. She had tried to do the same and had failed, one time falling from high in a tree to the coarse earth below. She had hurt for many days and thought that she might never be able to climb after that, but she had healed and could walk and run and climb again. But she realized she had been lucky that she had fallen during the season when there was plenty of plants to eat or she might have starved to death in her disabled condition, and since then she had never tried to climb through the trees like her hair-covered friends.

She had learned to set traps to catch animals and once had caught one of these climbers, wanting so much just to touch one of these beings that she thought, or wanted to think, were her friends. But when she had tried to take the climber from its trap just to hold it in her hands, it had screeched with such a horror in its cry and in its eyes that she could not bear to see it so, and had let it go without realizing her goal. So she had settled on letting the climbers climb and resigned herself that she was not, nor ever would be, one of them.

These that stood up on two limbs on this thing that now approached the shoreline--she stared with disbelief. These were like her! These were not like the climbers that she had yearned to be one of. These were like her. She watched with amazement, and disbelief, and with a sudden yearning--and with fear! They came by the water--the water she feared so much. She did not know why she feared the water. When she looked at it from a distance she somehow imagined herself in it, covered in it, smothered by it, even as she would be smothered by an animal skin and a shelter of branches that she constructed on those rare cool nights. But while the shelter gave her some warmth and security, the thought of being smothered by that blue mass that rolled almost incessantly off her cherished land filled her with terror. She couldn't understand this. She had watched from a distance as many of the animals walked down by the shore. She had even watched some of them swim seemingly carefree in its blue, unstable mass, but she could not. She could not even bring herself to go near the shore. She had gone near on a few occasions, but every time it seemed as if the liquidy mass would rise up and smother her. Once she had managed to get to the shore and, in spite of her terror, had managed to touch her foot to the surface. She remembered pulling it out immediately, as its cold had seemed to grab her foot. She had managed, though, to touch her foot to the water again. She remembered the cool, pleasant feeling then that the water had imparted, and for a moment, a brief moment, she had felt her terror just start to subside. But then the water had welled up and banged against the rock next to her and had flown up and sprayed her in the face. She had screeched and run into the forest until she was out of breath and far from the shore, her heart still pounding and her fear intensified. Never again had she tried to touch the waters around her land. She even avoided the lake that lay near the other side of the island. When she wanted to wash off the dirt that accumulated on her body she went to one of the small pools and dipped the water out with her hand. She would not venture to enter her body even into these small pools, but rather cupped some water in her hands and keeping her body firmly on the land washed off the dirt that clung to her.

And now these beings who looked so much like herself, but came by way of the water. She watched as they climbed off that which had brought them. She was amazed as they jumped down into the water! They were like her, but they jumped into the water. They did not seem at all afraid. They seemed like they belonged to the water, and this made her more afraid of them.

The thing which brought them stayed in the water. She watched as the creatures which had entered the water walked out onto the shore. The first creature, which even at this distance she could tell was taller than the other, walked onto the shore. It seemed to have something in its hand. She squinted to see carefully and could make out some sort of line between its hand and that thing that brought them and which remained on the water. She watched as the being walked on two limbs, even as herself, and went to the shore and attached the long line, which she thought to be a long vine, to a tree near the shore.

The other being followed behind. It also walked on two legs like herself. She had seen the climbers on the ground before. They could walk on two legs, but only awkwardly. These beings, though, as she watched them, walked on two legs, just as she herself did. They looked like her. And they walked like her. They were like her, but she feared them. They came by the feared water, and she could not help but fear them. But she could not help but watch them either. And inside she felt a great yearning--a yearning to be with some like herself. She had always wondered if there were others more like herself, but had never seen anything other than the climbers. And she had looked everywhere. She knew every piece of the land. She had walked over it all many times, except those parts right next to the water, and she had never seen any others like her. And if there had been others like her, surely they would be on the land. They could not possibly be in the feared water. But here they were, others like her, and they came from the water. She felt a yearning, and she felt fear.

She wanted to run, to be far away from fear, but she could not. She found the invisible bond between her and these two that looked like her was too strong. She could not run away, but she could not go near. She stayed where she was and watched for some time, enduring the fear that would not go away. She watched as the two beings entered the water again and got some things from that thing which brought them and which stayed in the water. They brought the things to land and went back to the water to get more. Every time the creatures entered the water, she felt a new spike of fear inside her, but she continued to watch. Then the two beings did not go back into the water for a while. They ran on the open area of sand and stopped at its edges to look at trees and at bushes. Then they ran on the sand again, and then one of them, the taller one, ran into the woods. A new shot of fear ran through her now. This being, the being from the water, was in the woods, in her woods, the woods in which she lived. She wanted to run, but she still couldn't. She turned to run, but then she looked back. She turned again. She looked back again. She couldn't decide to run or not to run. Then the taller being came back onto the sand area and her fear subsided somewhat again. She watched the two of them run on the sand, and then both disappeared into the forest. Her fear mounted again, but she watched. The two came back to the sand again and this time stopped to rest--down at the edge of the water! She feared them because they were of the water, but she envied them because—well, because they were of the water. She feared them because they were of the water, but at the same time she wished she could be one of them and not fear the water. She remained where she was and watched them. The two beings rested a long time, getting up only to move in away from the water at last as the water slowly creeped up farther onto the sand.

Even from a distance she had noticed that the water did this. It would creep up on the sand during part of the day and then slowly creep back down the other part of the day. This also made her afraid of the water. Why did it do this? Was it trying to creep up on her? She did not know, but it never made it past the sand, and she contented herself to stay far inside the sand in the woods.

From her spot in the woods on the hillside where she stood she continued to watch the two beings until they finally got up and moved. This time they did not run. They walked slowly into the woods, her woods. But this time they did not soon come out. She watched, and her fear mounted again. She watched, and they did not come back out of the woods this time. The fear grew into a lump inside her chest. She wanted to run, but she could not. She wanted to run away because of the fear, but she felt a pull inside her to go in the opposite direction--to walk toward the creatures that she feared so much! She turned to run away, but her feet would not move. She looked in the direction toward where the beings had walked. She looked away. She looked back. She could not understand, but she soon felt her feet walking toward the feared ones. Her terror was overwhelming, but even her terror could not fight against the pull inside her--the pull toward those like herself. She had always longed for others like herself, and now that longing was pulling her toward the feared ones even as her heart pounded, like a club pounding on a hollow log, with fear. Surely the feared ones would hear her heart pounding out its message before they even got near to her, but she could not help herself. Her feet kept moving.

After a ways she stopped. She knew she was getting close to the area where the feared ones would be. She stopped and hid behind a bush near an open space. Finally, her heart started to calm, and she listened. She heard nothing. Had the feared ones already heard her pounding heart and were hiding ahead waiting for her? She waited, and no one came. Finally, she walked ahead some more. She still could not understand why she was not running away, but she continued until she came near a path through the woods. She was not far from the shore now and this did not help her feeling of fear. She stopped again and hid behind another bush, waiting for the drum in her chest to calm. Finally, she heard something! The beating in her chest intensified, and for a moment it drowned out the sound she had heard. But then the sound came back. It was a sound different than any she had heard in the woods. The sound got closer. There were two sounds, and soon she realized they were the voice sounds of the feared ones. They were making these sounds loudly. They must have been, because she could hear them even over the incessant pounding in her chest. She heard them get closer and looked to see if she could see them. She peered through the leaves of the bush but saw nothing. Then she heard nothing but the pounding of her own heart.

They had heard her! They had heard the drum pounding inside her chest and had stopped making voice sounds and were prowling to get her! Why had she not run? She was about to do so, but looked once more. Now she saw one of the feared ones appear in the path. Terror gripped at her chest, but now she dare not run for fear that they would surely see her. Now she began to hear another noise. It was the sound of the feared ones' feet in the brush.

She was amazed. Living off from the land, she had learned to walk quietly. When she walked through the woods she hardly made a sound. She had learned to hunt quietly without stirring a leaf or twig as she walked. But these two! These two were crashing and plunging their feet through the forest floor. How could they make so much noise? They could not be prowling and make such noise. They did not seem to be trying to conceal themselves at all.

She lowered herself to the ground and crawled under another thick bush a little farther from the path. She found a small hole through which she could peer as the feared ones approached. The taller one approached. It was a strange color, and its skin seemed to hang on its body. After watching for a moment she realized that what she saw was not the being's skin but something covering its skin, even as she sometimes used a deerskin to cover herself on those cool nights. She did not understand why the being covered himself. But this was not a deerskin. It was different. It seemed thinner and was shaped neatly to fit to the body. It was cut neatly so that most of the being's arms stuck out through. Below was a separate piece of a different color, again shaped neatly to the creature's body and cut square and neat a little above its knees. She looked down at her own naked body and felt the fear mount again. She was uncovered, unprotected. The being that now walked past her was covered, and therefore protected. She now felt more vulnerable and more afraid.

However, the being did not seem to notice her and walked past. Indeed, it did not seem to be looking for her, even though she had thought it must have heard her. As it passed her, she somehow sensed that, even though it was like her, it was also different--even as there seemed to be two different of every kind of animal in the forest. This was most apparent in the climbers. She had watched them in the trees and seen them touching each other. She had watched one climber jump on another and seem to be hurting the other, but had learned that this was normal. She had realized that there were two types--those that climbed on others and those that were climbed on by others. As she had gotten older, she had begun to wish that she had someone more like her to climb on her in that way. She could not explain why she wanted this when it had always seemed so foolish to watch the climbers do it, but she had begun to feel this way and sensed that she was of the same type as those who were climbed upon.

Now, as she watched this one walk by, she somehow sensed that, even though it was like her, it was of the other type, of the type that climbed on others. She wasn't sure how she knew this.

The taller creature continued on, and the shorter one walked by. This one was also covered with a similar type of covering, but of a different color. She watched as this one walked by. This one was much more like herself. The hair on its head was long and dark like her own, whereas the first one had short, bright hair, much like the color of the sun. This one was about the same size as herself and had skin that was darker, like hers, compared to the light-colored skin of the first being. Also, she quickly recognized that this one was, like herself, of the type that like to be climbed on. Again, she did not know how she knew this, but she knew that it was so.

Then this being looked directly at her. At first she thought it saw her, and again her fear exploded in her chest. But the being showed no signs of seeing her, and she realized that she was well concealed behind the bush. As the being stood there, though, she was able to look at the face that looked her way. Her heart jumped again, but this time not from fear. She looked at the face and felt a burning desire inside her. She wasn't sure why. Yes, she had always longed for one like herself, but this was something different. The face was somehow special. It was more than just the face of another being like herself. Somehow, it seemed as if that face belonged to her--that somehow, she and that face belonged together. Yet, she had never seen another face of one like herself. At least, she couldn't remember of it. How could she feel such an incredible feeling of attachment to this being that she had never seen before? Or had she never seen it before? Somehow the face seemed familiar. Somehow the face seemed a part of her own life. But how could this be?

She could tell that this creature was older than her. She had watched the animals in the forest and knew that they started out small and grew to be large and then to be old and finally to disappear. She had occasionally found dead animals laying here or there and realized that this was the end of things. She herself had been smaller in the past and had grown, and, through watching the animals in the forest around her, she realized that the same must happen to her--that someday she would grow old and that someday she would lie still on the earth and move no more and that her body would disappear. She could tell that the face that looked her way was closer to that end than herself. This was reassuring, because she was not sure how long before this would happen to her, but she did not want it to happen soon, and now here was one like herself who was obviously much older, so she knew that her own end would not come soon.

But now as she watched the older face in front of her, once finally she realized that it had not seen her and her fear subsided long enough for her to study the face for a minute, she felt a sudden overwhelming urge to reach out, to jump up from her hiding place and to embrace that face that she saw. But she was afraid. These were the feared ones that came from the water. Her fear was too powerful and kept her in her hiding spot until the feared one continued on after its partner.

The voice sounds of the feared ones started again. She listened. She had never heard the voice sounds of any animal sound like these. Neither was her own voice like these. Most animals growled or hissed or screeched or murmured or made some kind of indistinct sound which, although they seemed to have some sort of meaning to the animals, seemed to mean nothing to her. Even her own voice sounds were limited to hissing, or making a growling-like sound, or, on occasion, screeching. But these beings made much more distinct sounds which seemed to be directed distinctly at each other.

She looked after them and wondered. They were so like her, but so different. She felt so attracted to them, especially to that face, but so afraid of them. She did not understand. As they walked away her fear subsided somewhat. She wanted to follow them, but she was still afraid. They were going away. That's what she wanted them to do, but at the same time she wanted them, especially the second one. Finally, her legs carried her away. She started running, her bare feet moving almost noiselessly through the forest to get far away from them.

But she did not run far. She stopped and crouched under a tree. She wondered what these beings were. They were like her, but they were different. They walked like she did, but with noise. They looked like she did, but they came from the water, the feared water that she could never have come from. Or was that right? She began to wonder. Yes, she feared the water, but why? She wondered what the water had done to make her afraid. She could not remember. As she thought, she began to think that maybe she did come from the water. After all, those that were like her came from the water. As she thought, she began to imagine herself in the water. This terrified her, and she thought the terror would rip her chest apart, but she realized that she actually could imagine herself in the water. That was what made her afraid. She felt that she knew what the water would feel like and then wondered how she could know that if she hadn't come from the water. Maybe she had come from the water, and that's how she knew what it was like, and that's how she knew to be afraid. But that didn't make sense, because these beings were like her and knew the water and weren't afraid. She could not make sense of it.

She climbed back up the hill to the place where she had first watched the feared ones. The thing which brought them was still on the water, although the water had crept up on the sand so that the thing was now farther away from the land. She looked at that thing. Even though it was far away, it was big enough so that she could see what it looked like. Somehow, she thought she had seen one like it before. She could somehow imagine herself on it, even though the thought again made her afraid. How could she imagine herself on it if she had never been on it? She did not understand.

She watched until she saw the beings return. She watched them set up some kind of small structure, sort of like the shelter of brush that she occasionally built to protect herself on those cool nights. Then she watched the two disappear inside. She yearned to go to them. She wanted to know what they did inside this thing now. She watched and they did not come out again for a while. Finally, her curiosity was stronger than her fear again, and she crept down from the hillside. She walked slowly, with her fear again mounting as she walked. She found herself getting nearer to the place where the feared ones were, and therefore nearer to the feared water. She got near enough to the shore to hear the water sloshing on the rocks. This brought more fear to her, but she continued on. She walked parallel with the shore until she was close to the site. She crept more stealthily into the brush and worked her way quietly and slowly toward the feared ones.

It would soon be dark she knew. She was no longer afraid of the dark, as she remembered having often been when she was younger, but she was already afraid, so the thought of darkness coming added to her fear. She nevertheless continued on toward the site. Soon she was almost within distance of the site, and now she again heard voice sounds--the voice sounds of the feared ones--faintly. Before she could get close enough to see them, though, or to make out distinctly their voice sounds, she smelled something! She had smelled that before and it made her even more afraid now. She remembered that smell--that horrible smell--but what was it? She knew it was a smell to fear, and she almost turned and ran back into the forest as far away as she could go on the land. But she didn't. No matter how afraid she felt, the draw of these two beings, especially that being more like her, was too strong. She could not run away. She neared the site.

Now she saw what she had smelled, and terror ran over her anew. Fire! That was what she smelled. There was a fire burning, and she had smelled the smoke as she approached. She remembered fire. There had been a fire once, many years ago when she was smaller. She remembered the fire, and the lightning bolt that had brought it. She had been terrified by the lightning bolt, and by the fire. The fire had burned only a small part of the land, but it had terrified her. The water was around the land, and the fire had then been on the land. She had felt trapped and had been terrified. Now here was fire again.

She was going to scream and run, but she seemed to have no air in her body to scream. Neither did she run. She looked and saw the fire in the sand. And there next to it stood the feared ones! They did not seem to be afraid of the fire! They were not afraid of the water, and they were not afraid of the fire! And she was more afraid of them than ever. She watched as the taller one bent down and seemed to lay something right on top of the fire. It seemed to put its hand right into the fire. She watched with amazement and horror. The two feared ones were making voice sounds again, but she was not paying attention. She was totally stricken by the sight of the fire. The terrorful fire was burning a little ways in front of her, and the feared water was just a little ways beyond. Here was the fire, and here was the water, and here were the feared ones who came from the water and were friends with the fire. She felt a scream in her throat and covered her mouth to hold it in. She turned and ran. She ran and ran through the forest without stopping to take a breath. She ran past the hillside where she had stood. She ran on and on until the darkness started coming on. Finally, she came to one of the places where she was accustomed to sleeping. She fell, exhausted, onto the ground. She felt water coming into her eyes. What is this? she wondered. She did not know water from eyes. But then she thought that maybe she did. Maybe she knew this water when she was younger. But here it came now, and she lay on the ground and the water came, and her body trembled, and her fear came from her heart up into her throat, and she thought she might choke on it.

Finally, she dreamed. These were not dreams as usual. These were dreams that terrified. She dreamed of fire. And she dreamed of water. She dreamed of being in the water. It seemed so real. The water surrounded her. She saw one of those things that brought the feared ones. She was on it. Then she was in the water. She could feel the water. She could feel herself hanging onto something, but the water was all around her. And then, more water, and more water, and then finally she woke again.

She remembered the dream and remained afraid, but she also wondered. How could she imagine being in the water? How could she dream of being in the water? She had never been in the feared water. How could she imagine or dream of what it is like? Could she know the feared water? Could she be from the feared water, even as the feared ones now on her land?

Soon it began to be light again. She rose up and began to walk. She was not sure where she was going--she just walked. Soon she realized she was heading back again toward where the feared ones were, and her fear grew, but she kept walking. She walked slowly this time, and the sun was already well into the sky by the time she found herself back at the hillside overlooking where the feared ones were.

She sat and watched. They were nowhere in sight. Were they inside the structure they had put up? There was no more fire. She was relieved. She watched. No one appeared below. Are they out walking around the land? she wondered. She grew more afraid. She watched. No one appeared. As she sat and watched, she finally realized that she felt hungry. She realized that she had not eaten the day before. She could not remember if she had eaten the day before that. She knew she needed food and thought about going to hunt some. But she could not leave. She had to watch for the feared ones. She had to watch for those that were like her. She sat and watched. No one appeared.

She sat until the sun was high in the sky. No one appeared. They must be out around the land, she thought. Her fear welled up once again. She watched. The sun started to drop lower in the sky as a band of dark clouds approached. She watched. The clouds moved between her and the sun. She watched. A light rain began to fall. She watched. The rain got heavier. It was impossible to see the site now through the rain so she moved down the hillside until it came into view. And she watched.

Finally, as the rain was just starting to let up again, she saw two figures running toward the site. They ran into the structure they had set up the day before. Soon the rain stopped, and the two figures emerged from the structure. She moved back behind a tree for fear that they might see her. Soon the sun came back out and she watched the two figures. She did not move back up the hillside, even though she could see clearly again. Instead, she moved down the hillside toward the feared ones.

She came near the site where the feared ones were and found a place where she could hide and watch them. They were at the spot where the fire was yesterday. The taller one was once again leaning down at the site where the fire had been. It was making a little pile of something she couldn't quite make out. After a few moments she saw it pick up a small object, pull an even smaller object out of it and then quickly brush the smallest object against the side of the other. She wasn't sure what happened at first but she then saw the creature reach down touch the object in its hand to the pile it had made.

She almost screeched in horror as she watched a flame quickly grow from the pile. Not only are these beings friends with fire, they create fire! These beings are evil! These beings are to be feared! And the terror flooded her heart.

In spite of the terror that was inside her, she stayed and listened as the taller one then began to make voice sounds again. It looked at the shorter one which responded with voice sounds of its own. She watched in amazement! The sounds were much like the sounds that she made with her own throat, but were much more distinct and controlled. The two beings seemed to be communicating. Of course, many of the animals in the forest used voice sounds to communicate, but these two seemed to do so in a special way. They made many distinct sounds which seemed to be put together in ways much more meaningful than the sounds that she was used to hearing by other animals. When one made sounds the other seemed to respond as if it understood exactly the meaning of the sounds.

She had not heard voice sounds used like this before. Or had she? As she watched and thought, she began to feel that maybe she had heard these types of sounds before. She began to imagine herself making the same kinds of distinct sounds, and it seemed right! Had she herself done this before? She did not remember it. But it seemed right to her.

She saw a hiding spot closer to the place where the creatures were. Her fear had subsided somewhat, and curiosity, and an attraction to these two like her, was taking over. She crept over to the other spot where she could see and hear them better. She could now hear distinctly the sounds they were making.

"That was so long ago. You need to put it in the past and stay in the present now."

"But, but I can't. She was only four years old."

She looked at the one who made the second voice sounds, the shorter one. She could sense that something was wrong, but could not identify the expression exactly. After all, she had never seen anyone that was like her before. Or had she? How could she understand? She had no way of understanding. Or did she?

She was able to see the face clearly from here and again an incredible urge came over her to jump up and reach out to touch that face, but her fear overcame her, and she hid.

"I know it's hard," the taller one's voice sounds came, "but that's why we came here; for you to prove to yourself that it is gone, in the past, and that you can get on with your life."

"I can't help it. She was my little girl. I ... I just can't forget her. I can still see her, one moment in my arms, and then ... and then..."

She was now close enough that she could tell that water was now coming from the shorter one's eyes, and it seemed unable to continue making the same distinct voice sounds. Then the taller one approached the shorter one and put its arms around it and the shorter one began making less distinct, moaning sounds as the water came from its eyes. She remembered the water that had come from her own eyes the night before and felt less afraid, more like these two were indeed like herself.

Finally, the shorter one continued, "I was holding her in my arms and then the wave came and... oh.. she was gone.... It pulled her right out of my arms and she was gone..... I called to Jim but he was gone too. I never saw either one of them again."

Then the shorter one started making very loud moaning sounds, and much water came from its eyes.

She watched. And she listened. Of course, she did not know the meaning of these sounds, but she felt like she had heard sounds like them before. Somewhere. Sometime. How could that be?

"I'm sorry. I'm not doing very well, am I?"

"You're doing fine. You don't need to talk about it."

"Yes, I do. I need to be able to talk about this."

"Okay."

"Elisa was such a pretty girl."

"Like her mother."

The shorter one looked up at the taller one with a weak smile. She did not know that this was called a "smile", but she sensed that the shorter being was somehow pleased by the voice sounds the other had made.

"I spent all night in the water, myself. Then, when they found me I told them what happened. They spent the next two days looking for a man and a little girl, but they found no one, either in the water or on any of the islands in the area."

"Did they search out as far as this island?"

"I don't know.... Ahh... I don't think so. They searched out to the island that we passed with the lighthouse. They said that not even a strong man like Jim could have made it any farther than that. Oh, my Jim! Oh my precious little Elisa!"

She thought that water was going to come again from the shorter one's eyes, but it did not. She watched the taller one pull the shorter one tight against him.

"No. I'm not going to cry anymore. Jim's gone. Elisa's gone. Elisa, my precious, precious Elisa. But it’s been almost 14 years. I guess it's time I got over it."

She crouched and listened to them. "Elisa.” “Elisa." Those sounds hit her ears. There was something special about those sounds. What was it? She was sure she had heard those particular voice sounds before.

Finally, it was nearing dark. She looked again at the face of the shorter one and again felt compelled to run to her. That face. It belonged to her. It was a part of her. But why? But her fear overrode her feelings and she snuck quietly away and then ran back to the same place she had slept the night before. The voice sounds went through her mind again. She thought about them. She felt like she had heard those kinds of sounds before. Then she opened her mouth and quietly began to repeat some of the sounds she had heard. Amazingly, she was able to repeat many of them. She even began to feel like she might know what some of them meant. Maybe! "Elisa". What was the significance of that sound? She felt like it was a sound meant especially for her. She thought about the sounds and kept repeating them until she fell asleep.

She dreamed again. She was in the water again. She was on the thing that brought the feared ones. Then she was back in the water again. But this time there was something else. Something else . . . .

She awoke. She realized that she still had not eaten and was very hungry. Nevertheless, she could not stop to eat. She headed back to the site again. As she walked, she tried to remember the dream she had had. She remembered the water. She had had that dream many times before. She remembered the thing that brought the feared ones. But there was something else. She tried to remember and she walked.

The sounds! That was it! Finally she remembered. There were sounds in her dream. Not the sounds of the water. Not the sounds of the wind. Voice sounds! She heard voice sounds in her dream. The same kind of voice sounds that she heard yesterday from the feared ones. Were they new? Or had they always been in her dream? "Elisa." She had heard that sound in her dream. Why? Had she heard that sound before in her dreams? She wondered as she walked.

She reached the overlook site. She saw the feared ones down below. She couldn't tell what they were doing at first, but then she saw the shelter collapse. After a few minutes she realized--they were leaving! A feeling of fear came over her equal to the feeling of fear she had felt when she saw them arrive from the water. They were going to go back to the water, and she would lose them forever. She ran down the hillside and snuck up to the site again. She watched the two beings putting the things back on the thing that brought them. Again she was afraid. She hid and watched. She saw the face again, and again she felt the incredible urge to run to it. She felt she had to run to it. She felt fear, but this time two fears: fear to approach the feared ones, and fear to let them go. She watched. She tried to force herself to leave her cover, but her fear of the feared ones was too great. Finally, she watched the two beings walk back into the water. She felt her heart was going to die as she watched them climb back on the thing that brought them and then watched it move slowly away from the shoreline. She wanted to run to the shoreline, run right into the water itself, but she couldn't. She was still too afraid. She felt the water come to her eyes again as they moved slowly out of sight.

After the feared ones and the thing that brought them were out of sight, she walked away from the water. She could hardly walk and she could feel pain in her heart. Water still flowed from her eyes. After a while she finally realized again, though, that she was hungry and had not eaten in a long time. She knew she must look for food. She found a few of the yellowish green plants with the narrow leaves whose roots she knew she could eat, but when she tried to eat them, in spite of her great hunger, she was unable to, and spit them out on the ground. She needed to find meat if she would survive. She wasn't able to chase animals today, though. She could barely carry her own weight as she walked. She walked and lost track of the time of day. She saw a rabbit and, in spite of her hunger, made no effort to catch it. She thought that she might just sit down and wait for her end to come.

She finally sat and remembered the face of the one that was more like her. She could not erase it from her mind. Then her dream came back to her. She again remembered the water and the thing that brought the feared ones and the voice sounds. But now she remembered something else. A face! Was it the same face as the one that she had just watched depart. She thought. She tried to see the face she had seen in her dream. Yes, it was the same. No, it wasn't. She couldn't make up her mind.

She walked again. And she thought. She remembered the dream. It slowly became clearer. She tried to see the face she saw in the dream. She tried to remember the voice sounds she heard in her dream. She walked farther. She lost track of where she was walking. She kept walking and thinking. She kept seeing the dream over again and hearing the sounds. Finally, she saw the face. No, it wasn't the same. But it was like it. She walked some more. Then she remembered the sounds, voice sounds. The face was screeching, "Elisa". Yes, she remembered it. She remembered the face and she remembered the sounds. It was a face like the one she had just been looking at. It was surrounded by the angry and feared water, and it was making those voice sounds, "Elisa". But what was the face, if it wasn't the one she had seen? Why was it similar? Why was it different? She continued to picture the face in her mind, and in her ear she could hear, "Elisa."

Finally, she realized. She remembered the animals. She remembered the climbers. She remembered herself. No one stays the same. Everyone gets older. The face in her dream was the same, but it was younger! And it was calling, "Elisa." "Elisa." She was beginning to understand. "Elisa". Yes, "Elisa!"

She continued to walk, and her heart grew heavier. She could feel the pain in her chest and the water ran uncontrollably from her eyes. She thought of the feared ones. No, they were not feared ones. They were like her. They were desired ones. They were the ones she belonged to and belonged with. And now they were gone.

She thought of the water. The water she feared so much. She imagined being in it again. She had come from the water, even as the desired ones had come from the water! She would return to the water. She would be swallowed up in its fear and never come back. She turned toward the shore and walked. She did not want to continue to live. She needed to go back to those she had come from. She needed to go back to that she had come from. She would throw herself into the feared water never to return from it. She began to run.

She soon came to the shore. As she appeared from the trees a flash of light caught her attention from the surface of the ocean. The sunlight had reflected off something on the water. She looked. It was there again. The thing that brought them. The thing that had brought the feared ones, the desired ones. It was there on the water.

She looked around. There was the structure again. They were back! They were here on a different place on the land, but they had returned. She looked and saw a figure leaning down to the ground next to the structure. Her fear came back again, but she walked on in spite of it. She walked toward the figure she saw. She walked toward it, and it stood up. It had dark hair and was the same size as herself. Then it turned around and she saw the face again.

She was not a feared one. She was the desired one. She was the face that called, "Elisa."

The face saw her and let out a short scream. The taller figure ran toward it, but she ignored it. The face she was looking at stopped screaming and studied her. Slowly, a glimmer of recognition came into its face.

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