First Light

On her final morning, Polly flew out to the farthest tip of the headland, the point the charts name Cap de Sant Antoni, where the land finally gives up arguing with the sea.

A small white lighthouse stood planted at the top of the cliff. It has kept its patient watch over these waters for generations, through storms, calms and every shade of weather in between.

The sun rose unhurried out of the water. The sea off the cape is a protected reserve, calm and startlingly clear, and beneath the surface fish and meadows of sea plants get on with their lives undisturbed. The first light set the cliffs briefly ablaze in gold, one more time for her benefit.

Polly looked back once and paid her respects to the sleeping elephant. Then she rose on the warm morning wind, and the bright open sea unrolled ahead of her.