Edgar

Little Edgar was fascinated by the sea. He loved the sound of the waves crashing on shore. After a couple of years, his parents decided that this fascination was not so cute any more.

"The sea is far, far away," they explained patiently. But how do you tell a little boy that their tribe has been living in this desert for generations, thousands of miles from the nearest body of water?

When the rest of the boys played soccer on the arid desert soil, Edgar would wander over to the beach and enjoy the moist and cool ocean breeze.

"How was the beach? " his friends teased him, "Catch any fish?"

He learned not to invite them, and they got used to his absences. He could walk around the whole Island before the rest of the teenagers wrapped up their games and went home for dinner.

"You can't be a sailor" said the tribe elders, "Look at all the land we reclaimed from the desert and turned into green. You need to contribute your share."

Edgar focused on the drip irrigation systems. He would get up early to work under the desert sun, but during the long lunch break, he would wander off to the beach, sit under the palm trees, and longingly look at the hints of other islands on the far horizon.

The young women were intrigued by his handsome looks and mysterious absences, some even became his friends. None walked over to the beach with him, and even those who loved him, eventually decided he was too strange, and left.

He became known as an irrigation expert and was asked to help the other tribes in the desert. Between trips, he would go to his special cove, where he constructed a small wooden sailboat. He trained younger men in the intricacies of the irrigation technology, and spent most of his days sailing. He even reached some of the surrounding islands. At first people marveled at his stories of the far away islands and the strange people that live there.

"What a wonderful imagination," they said, "you should write a book."

However, with time, less and less people wanted to listen to his stories. His friends too avoided him. For the first time in his life, Edgar felt that he did not belong.

One morning, an unusual fog lay low over the water. A tall sailing ship emerged from the fog and glided towards Edgar. There was no one on board. He stood on the deck, and the ship moved silently away from shore. Edgar watched as the land slowly faded into white, then walked to the bow and faced the parting mist.