Once they called him a dreamer and he was always pleased with the label. None of them understood dreams more than theoretically, of course, but to him it implied something beyond the ordinary.
Now, the ordinary is what Zat craves. An ordinary life with Babe. But what was once ordinary to Zat is beyond his reach.
When she grows old, he wonders, will she continue to dream of herself as a young woman? Will he be eternally youthful in her dreams as she ages?
The human condition, he realizes, is uncertainty. Uncertainty layered upon uncertainty.
That’s the beauty he sees and the beauty he seeks. There will never be an end to it. Not even after he’s gone.
He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women, nor of great occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of strength, nor of his wife. He only dreamed of places now and the lions on the beach.
He must remember to ask Babe if she’s read this book.