I went to sea
I went to sea at the end of summer. We drew great numbers of fish into the boat. The yearly wage of every man at work with us was dependent on a few successful weeks. I drank coffee whenever I could, through the day and night; and sometimes I put a little whiskey in it, but the important thing was to warm my hands and my throat and get the flavour of the sea out of my mouth. There was tell of a bad season in the southern Atlantic and we knew that, far from us, on the land, there were wars and elections and all that. I watched God drop the sun into the western waters and saw the clouds curl up like burnt plastic. For a while I was unable to sleep on account of the violence of the waves, but eventually I got used to it and then it was all right.