The Mist Closes Behind Her

On her last afternoon, Polly climbed high above the coast one more time, above the tea terraces, the crater with its two lakes, and the quiet forest where the priolo still calls from deep in the laurel trees. From up there the island looked exactly like what it is: one long chain of old volcanoes, still faintly warm, still slowly cooling into green.

Zadnje popoldne se je Polly še enkrat dvignila visoko nad obalo, nad čajne terase, nad krater z dvema jezeroma in nad tihi gozd, kjer priolo še vedno kliče iz globine lovorovcev. Od tam zgoraj je bil otok videti natanko to, kar je: ena dolga veriga starih vulkanov, še vedno rahlo topla, še vedno počasi ohlajajoča se v zeleno.

Fishing boats were heading back into the harbor below, small white shapes trailing thin wakes across a darkening sea, and lights were coming on one by one along the coast road. The smell of woodsmoke drifted up from somewhere near the shore, mixing with the last of the salt air.

Ribiški čolni so se vračali v pristanišče spodaj, drobne bele lise, ki so za sabo vlekle tanke sledi po temnečem morju, vzdolž obalne ceste pa so se druga za drugo prižigale luči. Od nekod blizu obale se je dvigal vonj po dimu drv in se mešal z zadnjim slanim zrakom.

A bank of fog rolled in off the ocean the way it had all week, sliding first over the crater, then the tea fields, then the harbor itself, folding the whole island out of sight beneath her. Polly had watched it do this before, patient and unhurried, as if the island preferred to disappear slowly rather than all at once.

Z oceana se je privalila stena megle, tako kot ves teden, in zdrsnila najprej čez krater, nato čez čajna polja in nazadnje čez samo pristanišče ter pod njo pospravila cel otok. Polly je to že videla, potrpežljivo in brez naglice, kot da bi otok raje izginjal počasi kot naenkrat.

She turned out over open water while the last of the light held on the horizon, leaving behind an island still cooking its dinner underground, still growing its tea one careful leaf at a time, and still, somewhere deep in an old forest, keeping a small grey bird safe.

Obrnila se je nad odprto vodo, medtem ko se je zadnja svetloba še držala obzorja, in za sabo pustila otok, ki še vedno kuha svojo večerjo pod zemljo, še vedno goji svoj čaj en skrben list za drugim in nekje globoko v starem gozdu še vedno varuje majhno sivo ptico.