He says Patrick’s name again, this time softer, as if the name has already left the world and is being recalled in the way of prayers for the departed. And every time there is the same absence. No story, no meaning. Nothing to which you can hold on and by that explain. This happened, the all of it. The stillness of the boy on the ground was beyond that of any living. It was not the lull of rest or the breathing stillness of sleep. It was in every possible way wrong. That is what Jude understood. When asked, he could not say how long it took for him to come to Patrick’s side. It was not that
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