Towed by the Great Fish

The marlin swims steadily northwest, towing the skiff. Santiago holds the line across his back, braced against the pull. He wishes the boy were with him. The fish does not surface, and the old man cannot see it. As night falls, he ties a sack around his neck to cushion the line and settles into a painful but bearable position. He thinks about the fish's nobility and strength, and he feels a growing kinship with it. The stars guide him, and he knows he is far from land.