New Horizons.
The sun was setting and it gave a reddish glow to the whitewashed houses around the harbour. Boats bobbed on the waves, the gleaming hulls belonging to the rich and the simple fishing boats with their painted eyes, protection against harm, the faith in ancient beliefs in no way challenging the sailors' faith in the church. When life was so fraught with danger, you hedged your bets.
Eleni, who was a great grandmother and carried forty-seven pictures of her descendants, was sitting on the low wall that looked out over the sea. She wore black, the only colour her vibrant bangles that shook as she waved her arm to draw her son's attention to those in need of more retsina or another plate of dolmades.
Daniel had told stories of Eleni. In the war, she had been with the Ethniko Apeleutherotiko Metopo, which was a long name and not easy to say. She was a legend in her town, a little old lady who had, in her younger days, tripped a Nazi officer, then laughed at his embarrassment. And as he stood and struck her, he had not seen the two women, members of the resistance, who fled in the chaos that ensued.
Harry had asked her about it, intrigued by an act so daring. He had asked why she had not been afraid and she had looked at him with her dark eyes and her wrinkled face had flashed a smile that seemed to have been waiting in the well-laid laugh lines and she had chuckled.
"I was afraid." she said, "I thought I would die."
"Then why did you do it?" he said.
She took his youthful hand in her frail-looking one and said, "Better one should die than two and better I should die for my country, for my friends, than for nothing. Besides, he looked so funny when he fell. All the arrogance lying in the dust, like a chicken dropped by a dog."
She saw her daughter-in-law and bustled over to her, a heroine of the resistance turning rapidly into the head chef she preferred to be. Harry watched her go, struck by the beauty of a life that seemed undimmed by time.
He looked at Daniel, who was regarding the red-gleaming sea with half-closed eyes.
"Ten years ago," he said, "Greece didn't exist."
"Tell that to the Parthenon, to Knossos, to Plato." said Daniel.
"For me, I mean." said Harry, "Greece meant nothing to me. Dublin was real, but far off, London a dream. France, Greece, Turkey were nothing."
Daniel smiled and sipped his retsina.
"How can you drink that stuff?" said Harry.
"Practice and determination!" said Daniel.
"When I was twelve, I thought I'd never leave London." said Harry.
"And now you're seventeen, and the world is yours." said Daniel.
"No, it's yours and you choose to share it." said Harry.
His attention drifted for a moment. Kiriaki was one of Eleni's granddaughters, perfect skin the colour of honey, long, lustrous black hair and a look in her eyes that suggested any new invasion of the islands would be met with the same impetuous courage and spirit as her grandmother had shown. She was standing in the doorway, a tray in her hands, her figure silhouetted in a way that he did not think for a moment was unintentional.
"Careful, Harry." said Daniel, "If Mihalis sees you looking at his youngest like that, he'll snap your neck."
Harry smiled. "Half the town looks at her like that. It's no crime to look."
"One day," said Daniel, "Your weakness for a pretty face will get you into a pit I can't dig you out of."
Kiriaki saw him and smiled. He smiled back. He knew he was blushing a little, but the evening sun hid it well. He knew that if he went over there, he would trip over his tongue and say something stupid and she, like all the other beautiful girls who knew just what they could do to a teenage boy would laugh about it for days. If he just smiled, she would think him mature and mysterious, to speak would break the spell and though he dearly longed to begin a lifelong exploration of the arts of love, he had no wish to begin by making a fool of himself.
Daniel looked out to sea again. "It's a big world, Harry, and full of wonders ... and women." he added, seeing where Harry's attention still lay.
"Most of the wonders are women." said Harry.
Daniel smiled. "That's very true, and most women are wonders, one way or another. Travel is good for a man. It educates the soul, it broadens the horizons and it makes it harder for women to catch up with him. Travel wherever you want to, explore every continent, experience every season."
"I plan to." said Harry.
"Good! Live every moment of your life. Savour every new day and remember to stop sometimes, just to watch the sunset. The world is full of people following long lists of what they should do, what they ought to do. Do nothing that doesn't excite, delight or intrigue you. Keep your mind widening and your horizons expanding and always remember that when where you are is not where you want to be, it's time to move on."
"Are you where you want to be?" said Harry, thinking of all the times when Daniel had seemed distant and melancholy.
Daniel took another sip of retsina and nodded. "For now, Harry, for today."
"And tomorrow?"
"Maybe we'll move on."
"Maybe one day you'll move on and leave me behind." said Harry, voicing a fear that spoke loudly in his mind on sleepless nights.
Daniel looked at him, a flicker in his eyes that could have been doubt, or concern. Then he smiled. "No, I don't think so. It wouldn't be half so much fun without you."
The End.