human
La la, it is Nam-Bok, Bask-Wah-Wan croaked, peering up into his face.
gpt
Ever did I say Nam-Bok would come back.
human
Ay, it is Nam-Bok come back. This time it was Nam-Bok himself who spoke, putting a leg over the side of the bidarka and standing with one foot afloat and one ashore. Again his throat writhed and wrestled as he grappled after forgotten words. And when the words came forth they were strange of sound and a spluttering of the lips accompanied the gutturals.
gpt
Greeting, O brothers, he said,
human
Thou art dead, Nam-Bok,
gpt
I am fat.
human
Dead men are not fat, Opee-Kwan confessed.
gpt
Thou hast fared well, but it is strange. No man may mate with the off-shore wind and come back on the heels of the years.
human
I have come back,
gpt
Mayhap thou art a shadow, then, a passing shadow of the Nam-Bok that was. Shadows come back.
human
I am hungry. Shadows do not eat.