idiosyncrasies. “There’s even room for a garden like this in the back.
And it’s close to the sea. Just think about it. You can die a little every
day over there too.”
Roy dried off and went into his room to meditate, leaving his
friend to mull over the offer. Yak remained in the bath for a very long
time. Finally, with the early evening breeze moving about the garden
like a ghost and the trees whispering audibly throughout the tiny
lanes of the enchanted town, he finally said to himself, “This may be
the season of my return.”
He had not noticed the sea level rising, turning the mountain
into an island. Isolated from history, Java had become for him a sort
of melancholy paradise. He wondered if he could he make it on the
outside, down on flatland, at the epicenter of his error. Roy was
right—he would have to come down from this high place to find out.
The following day he shaved off his long locks, bid his teacher an
indefinite farewell and arranged for his descent.
ABYSSINIA
126
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