*****
Shawn tried to continue the back and forth exchange with Wairua, but his voice exposed his fatigue. The hammock slowed and Shawn fell into a much needed sleep.
Knowing he had dozed off, Wairua took her time speaking as she sliced a papaya into spears. “Shawn, you look as if you haven’t eaten. Your eyes look empty, too. How long were you at your image screens?” She put the bowl of the fruit on a table next to the hammock. “How will you ever find happiness in your work, stealing the souls of others? You know, one day you will see — someone you love will lose their spirit, then you shall see.”
With that, Wairua knelt alongside her protector and prayed.