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It took her sos, but eventually she located the stone It had settled into the earth somewhat; many of the names inscribed into its face had washed away to ible Still, she was able to discern certain surna She rees of various sizes, picks, and two haround, surveying the stone Her eyes traveled over the stoic surface as she planned her attack She could have waited until ht She selected a spot, took up her chisel and ha of the third day Her hands were bloody and raw The sun was high in the sky as she stood back to examine her handiwork The quality of the inscription was unpracticed but, on the whole, better than she’d hoped She slept that day and all the next night and, in the , refreshed, packed her camp and descended the mountain She headed west, first away from the sun and then toward it The land was empty, without history, devoid of life The days passed in ept silence, until, one , Amy heard the sea On the air was the scent of flowers The sound, a low roaring, expanded; suddenly the Pacific appeared Its blue expanse see an entire planet White-tipped waves crashed upon the shore She rass down to the wide beach at the water’s edge She felt uneasy but also consue She stripped off her pack and then her clothes and sandals As the first wave broke across her body, its power nearly knocked her off her feet; a second claiing water She could no longer touch the bottom--it had happened that fast She experienced no fear, only a wild, startled joy It was as if she had rediscovered a wholly natural condition in which she was connected to the forces of creation The water onderfully cold and salty With the barest s, she could keep herself afloat She allowed herself to bob freely in the swells, then dove down again Beneath the surface she opened her eyes but could see virtually nothing, just vague shapes; she rolled her body to look up Brilliant sunshine ricocheted off the face of the water, ht, she held her breath as long as she could, hidden in this unseen world beneath the waves
She decided to re farther out She was not testing her resolve; rather, she aiting for a new i, hera new phase of life She spent her days just sitting and watching the waves or taking long walks up and down the sandy expanse Her needs were sies and, near that, great banks of blackberries, and these hat she ate Shesoone but would always be a part of her
Content as she was, she realized over the months that her journey had not ended The beach was a way station, a place of preparation for the final leg When spring came, she broke camp and made her way north She had no destination in rewbeauty of the California coast, towering trees blasted by the salted winds into strange, grasping shapes that cantilevered over the sea She passed her days walking, the sun’s hands pressing on her shoulders, the ocean beside her, curling and falling; at night she bedded down beneath the stars or, if it was raining, a tarp suspended on a cord between the limbs of a tree She saw animals of every type: the ser, statelier creatures, antelope and bobcats and even bears, great dark shapes shah the brush She was alone on a continent thathabitation would re became suht she built a fire for warmth She was north of San Francisco, she didn’t know quite where Oneshe awoke under her tarp and knew at once that soed into a world of soft white light and silence; snow had fallen in the night Fat flakes floated soundlessly down fro the to her lashes and hair; she opened her ulfed her It was as if she were a girl again She lay on her back and extended her legs and ar theel