Cold wind shrills, booms and tastes of salt.
Surf rumbles.
Gulls rise, soar and mew.
Everard and Wanda walk on dark, hard, wet sand.
They crunch shells and pop bladders.
On their right, in both directions, stretch dunes and cliffs.
On their left, waves march "...from the edge of sight..." (p. 432) and there is one ship.
Everything is white or silvery gray - in which case, the attached image is not quite right but it is a good image.
All this description before the conversation begins. And that conversation will tell them and us the meaning of the Patrol.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Beaches and seashores are favorite places for many of Anderson's characters for resting, recuperating, contemplation, etc.
Ad astra! Sean
Understandably so.
A beach is the meeting of two worlds; and the way its features are constantly in flux is a visual metaphor for mutability and time.
I got the idea for the ISLAND IN THE SEA OF TIME series walking on a beach in Nantucket.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I'm very intrigued to know how a walk on the beach affected you and your own work! I admit I was thinking of the beaches seen and mentioned in Anderson's stories.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: stories affect how we perceive things.
Beaches are liminal spaces, but by the time I came up with the idea for "Island" in 1996, I was deeply familiar with Poul's work... including his characters' reactions to walking on beaches!
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
And that helps to explain the Andersonian allusions and echoes I look out for in your own stories!
Ad astra! Sean
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