In this chapter, the young narrator reflects on the events of the previous day. He realizes that he was lonely after that day and feels that he has stepped onto the brake of a car. He wonders if he would have fallen if he had stepped on the brakes on a downhill slope. He then asks the young woman if she would like to go and catch an abalone. She replies that she would rather wait for him to catch her something delicious. The young narrator then asks if he can be more "aware" of the ocean. He says that he gets to see it more than he ever wanted. He tells the woman that when he retires in his later years, he would like a house in the place where he works. He also tells her that he is jealous of a man who is always full of energy. He asks why the man keeps smiling when he still has to do his job, and she says that it is not funny. She then asks him if it is his first time seeing her on the island, and he replies that he would not forget her beauty if he were twenty years old. She tells him that the man is upsetting her, and that he should go to the city and become a better person. She asks him to stop wasting his talent and to see how long he will last.