The Odessans Quotes

“Sergei extinguished the lantern, whereupon it turned out that it was not so dark after all, and they could see everything. The waves were pitch-black and kept pounding into the shore like artillery fire. Then everything exploded in white foam and went climbing up to an astonishing height. The sky was invisible. To Pavel it seemed that at any moment he would find that he was flying, that in fact he already was flying - into this bliss, and terror and roar. Uncle Sergei burst out laughing and yelled something, but Pavel was deafened and he neither understood not wanted to understand. He and the sea now belonged to each other, and nobody - not even Sergei - could come between them.

And later, when they had returned to the city, Pavel still continued to feel this new bond: between the sea and himself. Had he been told this was love, he would have been very surprised. It was more like a taut length of rubber that allowed him to go on with his life and move about, yet constantly kept tugging him back to the same spot. To that cliff. To that flight. He did not yet know that this was to be for ever.”
― Irina Ratushinskaya, The Odessans