The Light Between Oceans Page #2

I lost both of them.

In the War.

Just must be

so confusing for my parents.

I mean, if a wife loses a husband

she becomes a widow,

but if a parent loses a child

there's no special label for it.

You're still a mother or father.

Even if you no longer have a child.

Sometimes I wonder,

if I'm still technically a sister

now when my brothers are gone.

How long were you there, in the War?

Nearly four years.

You poor thing.

Must have made you numb.

My feet.

Made my feet numb,

more often than not.

Frozen mud will do that to you.

What about your family?

Tell me about your parents.

My mother's dead.

What about your father?

No love lost there.

Was he strict with you?

Strict doesn't begin to describe it.

Sun, though,

made army discipline easy.

I suppose it made it easier

being over there,

knowing there'd be no one

heartbroken if they got the telegram.

Don't say such a thing.

Well, you asked.

Sometimes it's good

to leave the past in the past.

So if I can't talk about the past,

am I allowed to talk about the future?

We can't rightly talk about the future

if you think about it.

We can only talk about

what we imagine or wish for.

It's not the same thing.

You're impossible.

So what do you wish for, then?

Life.

That'll do me, I reckon.

Take me out to Janus with you.

What?

I want to see it.

I want to see

where you hide yourself away.

I'm afraid that that would be

against Commonwealth rules.

The only woman allowed on Janus

is the keeper's wife.

Then marry me.

What are you laughing at?

You'd have to have rocks in your head

to want to marry me.

Better get you back home.

Or they'll have the troopers after me.

Come on.

Will you write to me?

Of course.

Dearest Isabel.

Each day and each night

when I look out across the ocean

I try to see you

standing on the pier.

I've been thinking

about our time together,

and what you said.

You were right.

I've been around so much death

for so long, that it has made me numb.

I suppose that's why I came to Janus

because out here

there is no one to hurt.

Out here, I am only responsible

for the light.

For many years, everything

I touched would fade away.

And you are so full of life it scares me.

Isabel. A parcel!

I admire your spirit too much

to let it be clouded by my darkness.

From Tom.

Yet, I can't stop

thinking about you.

And the time spent with you

allowed me to feel again.

And for that, I thank you.

And I'm forever grateful.

Yours, Tom.

Dearest Tom.

I've received your beautiful letter.

Thank you.

Thank you for opening up to me.

I know how hard that must be for you.

I also know how hard it is to have lost.

But we all have to get on with life.

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