" She touched her fingertip to his wet face and brought away a tear. Amazed, he did the same. He tasted this river his own eyes had rained." It tastes of salt!" he exclaimed. " It tastes like the sea!" " Mine too!" she laughed through her own tears, and he touched and tasted hers as well. " It's as if humans kept a sign of the mother sea in ourselves, a secret token of grief or gladness. "