questions, to put aside my quest for truth. I shook my
head.
"I can't promise something I'm not sure I have
the strength or even the willingness to do," I said. He sighed with frustration and then smiled
again.
"All right, but at least promise you'll try. It's
important to my work." He waited.
"I'll try," I offered, weakly.
It was enough for now. He hopped out of the
jeep and I followed, Ulysses at our heels.
"I've been working all weekend," he said as we
went around the house to the studio. "Even without
my star," he added, throwing a smile back at me. When he opened the studio door, I saw what he
meant. Near the marble block, there was a large
papier-mache mass shaped like a wave about to crash
on shore.
"It's not exactly right yet, but that's something
like the wave I've envisioned," he said. "Do you see
the opening in the center?"
"Yes?'
"I want you to go behind the wave, crawl under,
and come up through that hole."
"Really?"
"That's the idea. I can picture you emerging
from a wave, as part of the wave, this way.
Understand?"
"Yes," I said, thinking it was a very clever idea. "Just crawl in first and then I'll tell you how I
want you to stand and so on." He went to his drawing
table.
Then he nodded at me and I walked around the