Ankyra Sound Judah sees a ghost

Her grief braids with his own and he braces into her lean despite how his own balance falters. He didn’t understand much about pain. The terrible void in it makes him feel small. There had been a time on the second island when he was so deep inside it that he could not see the path forward, or that anything lay beyond it all.

That’s how the hurt feels: like being stuck inside a massive rock. Encased; alone.

My dad’s missing too, he thinks to tell her, but I know he will be back. Maybe your’s will, also.

Instead of the stone he feels God pressing down all around him. They are never alone- not truly. Because God knows them by their loneliness, and He sees through their eyes.

The boy gestures again for the girl, this time in a soft invitation with the bow of his head and the closing of his eyes, to join him, if she might wish, to pray.

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.