With the progression of the afternoon, it is evident that another rainstorm is about to sweep the ocean. The fading sunlight is now being replaced by a blanket of dark clouds, and the winds slash through the choppy waters with considerable force.

A light drizzle has begun, and it steadily grows into a torrential rainfall. It is packed with dangerous thunder and lightning, scattered about like fireworks in the skies and over the ocean below. Reaching under one of the seats, George quickly pulls out part of the makeshift sail and hands it to Kennedy, who covers Perry’s body with it. The other half is folded into a gutter- like structure which ends at the mouth of the Clorox bottle.

With that done, and Perry secured under the wraps of the sail, they quickly return to their seats to weather the storm. Throughout the storm, they endure the whipping effects of the rain as it is splattered by the winds against the boat and their bodies. Then there is the occasional violent rocking that sends shock waves exploding like dynamite inside of them. This continues for the better part of two hours, and is all over as dusk approaches.

Now, with the sea storm safely behind them, Kennedy wastes little time in checking on Perry. But then, as he lifts the sail from his body, the reality they have fought so hard to reject lies solidly before him.

Perry is dead!

His eyes, which were shut throughout the coma, are wide open, and they communicate everything Kennedy needs to know. Perry did not die without a fight. The sad expression upon his face is indicative of a young man with plenty of misgivings about dying. After all, he was only twenty-one, and who could ever blame him for questioning death?

But then, as Kennedy continues staring at his remains there in the stillness, the coincidence of how Perry was taken away from them during the rainstorm is mystifying in itself. Some- how, he feels as though Perry’s spirit is still hovering around, and that the restlessness and defiance in his eyes must have been about the unborn child he will never live to see.

George is over by now, and like Kennedy, he too is speechless. He simply stares at Perry’s body, as if trying to make sense out of what really happened here. As George tries to regain his composure, Kennedy places his hands over his dead cousin’s forehead, strokes his brow, and gently shuts his eyes for the last time...