Windfallen

“The sea,” she said again, trying to ignore Celia’s furious expression. “Living right by it, I mean. It’s the best thing. Hearing it in the background all the time, smelling it, walking along the shore and being able to see the curve of the earth . . . knowing when you look out that there is so much going on underneath it that we shan’t ever see, or know about. Like this big mystery, right on our doorstep. . . . And the storms. When the waves come right up over the wall and the wind blows the trees so hard that they bend over like grass, and being inside watching when you’re all warm and cozy and dry . . .” She began to falter, caught Celia’s mutinous face. “That’s what I like anyway.”