Mori's Seven Years
One chapter per year. Captain Mora stays on the island. Mori grows up in the sea. In Year 6, he meets Cinta.
"Light, this is how it passes from one to the next."
You're not setting off alone
The day they set out, Captain Mora walked slowly into the sea. It was his only time in the water that year, and Mori's first journey out. That year, Mori lit thirty small lights.
"Out there — go as far as you can."
Walking past the mist
Beyond the island there's always been a ring of white mist. That year, Mori walked into it. Far ahead, he saw a young turtle walking forward — only after a while did he realize it was Captain Mora, when Captain was young.
"You already know yourself."
Going on his own today
On the highest point of the island, the Spineback Tree grew its first leaf. That morning, Mori glanced at Captain Mora, then set out on his own.
"You've gone to a place deeper than I have."
Deeper than Captain ever went
That year, Mori dove to a place even Captain hadn't been. At the deepest point, a great bell. He touched it lightly. The bell didn't ring, but every fish on the surface heard it.
"You are part of a very long story."
You're in this story too
That year, Captain Mora said: "I'm not getting in the water this year. You go on your own." Mori saw seven shapes in the sea — like very, very old young turtles. They looked at him, then slowly faded.
"He was holding a piece of driftwood. Mori knew that one."
Now it's your turn to look after someone
That year, a small turtle washed up in the shallows, holding a piece of driftwood. Mori knew that piece — he'd pushed it back into the sea a few years before. She was a bit scared. Mori looked at her the way Captain Mora had once looked at him. Her name is Cinta.
"The lighthouse is yours now."
The lighthouse is yours now
That morning, the mist was gone. The sea was blue, all the way out. Captain Mora left a very short note, then walked. Mori lit the lighthouse that morning, and the lamp shone toward Cinta.