Greatwater Lake each morning I get up, I die a little

Chemukh. The name rang through his mind, a bright chime, as he began to search for a mental image. Mur had mentioned her before, when they were traveling, but he couldn't remember meeting her. Ah, well, Shale thought, giving up for now. Too young to recall.

"Mur, I'm sorry," he murmured, eyes sad. He did not inquire further; Murdock's expression said it all. Instead, his mouth quirked, giving away the storm of emotions within him. "So you. . .will. . .understand what I'm going to tell you. I don't know if I'd tell you if you didn't."

He looked at the water, watching the little waves lap onto the shore, cool and bright. "When I left home, I did so alone," Shale began, thinking of the morning he had departed. It had been an unseasonably warm summer's day, the sun hot on his back. "I didn't know where I was going, or what I was looking for. I just knew I needed to leave. I had no future there."

Turning even further northward, Shale had entered another mountain range and picked his way through the crags, eventually stumbling upon a small pine valley, a verdant green oasis amidst the gray and rocky environment.

"I found her there," he said, and her face appeared suddenly in his mind, brown-green eyes sparkling as brightly as the day they had first met. "Lucy." His voice broke as he said her name, and Shale dipped his head low, tears swimming in his eyes.