Asin’s first day on the sea had been hard in unlike what she expected. She had thrown up the whole day from seasickness. She had lain on the deck floor feeling the moist breeze of the sea and the fast trembling movement of the boat. Most of them had felt sick and they had to change their destination to the nearest ship. Although the ship was afloat on the water, it didn’t have as much motion as the boat and Asin had felt calmer standing on the ship. The ship residents had welcomed them and allowed them to stay for a night, playing music. Narivan had said to the group that this was not enough and they should be paid in coins as well as given a shelter and food, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to carry on. The next two ships were more successful as the group was paid in coins. Asin had gotten used to the sea motion. One night on the boat, she had sneaked out of the girls’ cabin and gone to Narivan’s. All the four girls shared a room and Narivan’s brothers were sailing the boat. She knew that Narivan would be alone, probably fallen asleep after a hard day spent on playing music and planning their journey. She didn’t want to wake him. She just wanted to lie down by his side. But Narivan had turned towards her upon smelling her scent. He had taken her in his arms, kissed her and caressed her and had taken away her virginity. Asin still remembers that night with all the details, sounds, smells and feelings and she knows even with the amnesiac effect of the sea, she would never forget her first lovemaking. Every time she sees Dalia, she wants to believe that she was conceived on that dreamlike night. But even though the timing would match, Dalia’s looks and behaviours were more like Asin’s diver husband than Narivan. Dalia was a child of the sea.

The Atlan Island with its roofed alleys had given them a different experience. They had introduced themselves as Travellers coming from northern borders of the pre-rain Iran, and Asin’s brothers who had become competent sailors were introduced as their boatmen. The Atlan guards had not suspected them to be the boat thieves of the Paradise Island. The Atlan market was very profitable to them. They had stayed for two weeks gathering lots of coins, setting up their boat and filling it with supplies and set off to new lands. Before they sailed from Atlan, Asin and Narivan had announced their engagement to the group and one of the boat cabins was given to the new couple. The first night on the boat, after leaving Atlan, was spent celebrating the marriage of Asin and Narivan. They were drunk from the wine they had bought in Atlan, singing and dancing and playing whatever music they liked. The next morning, they were hung over. Asin could hardly walk out of her bridal cabin. She had thrown up in front of it. The rest of the passengers were in a similar position. One of the ouds was found with a broken neck lying around the boat deck and the skin of Asin’s brother’s tunbak was torn. All passengers had bent over the boat gunwale throwing into the water. When the sickness and cleaning up had ended, they had realised the mistake they had made the previous night, they had forgotten to anchor the boat and they didn’t know where they were and where they were going. Asin’s older brother, still sick and ashamed of his big mistake, had taken control of the rudder and had tried to find their way with a compass, sailing towards west and hoping that they would reach Oxan.