The Hills And The Ocean
"I remarked that she was living like quite a few other people here, only more so. After all, it's so easy. There are plenty of houses large and isolated enough to guard you from everything except the hills and the ocean. You can listen to all the music in the world in your bedroom, and if you need a reminder of the human condition, you have only to turn on the tv. I said that up to a point I like this way of living my self, I preferred the marketplace to lie around the corner rather than just outside my window. Then I said something about believing in contemplation and in solitude; they were necessary stations along the way, but I wanted to know where her way was leading. After she'd walked and gazed at clouds and mountains, and smelled time in flowers, and frightened herself by thinking of all the cruelty in the world, what did she do but return home and eat her supper and read a book which made her puzzle even more about the state of her soul?"
G. L.
