Chapter 18

Content:

The time pasts and Jess is caught in his thoughts and worries about Grandpa keeping on swimming down the river up to its end. The more Jess swims the more she feels herself tired, but then she sees the River Boy again at noon. Is it an imagination? No, that can't be. She doesn't gives up, but goes more quickly. She wants to catch him. Another hour pasts and Jess isn't able to catch him. So the River Boy disappears again from her view. But that doesn't matter. She keeps on going and arrives at Braymouth. Nevertheless after a few hours she felt herself failed and loses her will to go on. She faces the banks, but then she hears the River Boy again. He asks again: "Why are you crying?" And when Jess turns round the River Boy is just a few feet away. He persuates her to keep on swimming with him. So they swim on a short time together.
However, after this short time Jess looks up and sees that he is gone and in front of her there is only the sea. Jess reaches the end of the river and in some way she knows that Grandpa reached the end of his life yet.


My thoughts while reading:

For me this "journey" of Jess is too detailed. There are a lot of facts that won't be necessary for the story. But on the other hand I think that the thoughts of Jess and her fight of giving up or keeping on going. I made a lot of distance events (Langstreckenläufe) and I can really say that this chapter describes it very well how you feel if you're only depend on your will and your body is full of pain. So this fight of will and body is explained very well to me. I really thought about weather Tim Bowler knew this fight. I don't know.