And whenever the sea grows still or the mountain grows quiet, the elders tell the children:
“Do not fear the shark. Do not fear the fire. Fear only the day they stop loving each other—because that is the day the world will truly end.”
He lived in the tidal pools, hunting for octopus and sleeping on beds of cold kelp. His eyes were black and lifeless on land—but underwater, they glowed like abyss pearls. He never cried. He never laughed. He simply circled.