Consolidation:

“So there I was,” said Buck. “There I was. Me and Janus. It was almost dark. Almost but not quite. Like that perfect kind of light that comes right before the light is here no more. You know what I’m saying? You know the kinda light I’m talking about, Professor? There’s like this dusk, or whatever, this—what’s the word—interstitial period of light, like it’s stuck between here and there, between running back to its source and being absorbed by the darkness. But which is it? Does the darkness absorb the light or does the light pierce the darkness? I think it’s the latter, am I right?”

“But forget that, and just imagine this. Imagine me and Janus wandering right along this edge, hacking with our old machete, which we had also discovered, by the way, on the ground, earlier in the day, abandoned by whoever it was that came before me, and now here I am, hacking away with my machete as if I can make a difference in all this thicket and thornery, as if I’m better than the guy who came before. As if!”

But whatever. I got my machete and I got my dog and there was this perfect time of day and we were tracking right along the edge of a steep cliff about a quarter mile from here, which is where I’m taking you now, and we could see the sea below and everything was throbbing, like humming or vibrating, utterly still and silent but pulsing if you know what I mean. And even the mosquitos were reverent, do you know? Like I quit sweating and stopped hacking and just stood there for a minute, breathing, looking around, whispering to Janus, telling him it was all okay, because here we were, and this was good, this was as good a place as any to drop down and sleep for the night, you know, which is what we do, we just wander around this park and see what we see, and we fall to the ground when we’re sleepy and that’s what we do.  We sleep. We don’t worry about anything else, just being here, just hacking through the jungle and figuring it out as we go, and occasionally stumbling across something wonderful. If you’re looking for it, then there is always something wonderful to be discovered.”

“Man, you should see the views! Let me tell you, the hardest man you know can suddenly find himself broken down in near tears by the things I have seen on this island. Near tears. There are places on this island that break through the hardest scar tissue, as you will soon see, Professor. No matter how thick and hard the scar tissue, it can be broken.”