Turn 224 of 226

Set up a new territory beside the Pacific.

The Pacific is the thing the 620-foot frames reach in 31 minutes. The 31 minutes is the thing the 180 miles between Yakima and the coast become at 340 miles per hour, and the becoming is the thing the Olympic Peninsula's old-growth forest does not survive. The 800,000-pound feet press the Hoh Rainforest six feet deeper in strips 80 feet wide and the strips are the thing the 420-foot stride creates. The stride is the thing the 620-foot frames do not slow for the trees with. The trees are Douglas fir and western red cedar and Sitka spruce, 250 feet tall and 800 years old, and the 250 feet and the 800 years are the thing the 980-times density sole does not register as different from the ferns beneath. The not registering is the thing the animal does. The animal walks. The walking is the thing the forest ends at.

The coast is the thing the 620-foot frames step onto and the stepping is the thing the continent does not continue past. The Pacific is 200 miles of open water from the shore and the 200 miles is the thing the 620-foot frame's olfactory receptors mapped at the crater. The smelling is salt and cold and kelp and the kelp is the thing the 800,000-pound body wants. The wanting is the thing the warmth fills. The warmth is the wish. The wish is the thing the 620-foot frames follow to the water.

The shore is the thing the 800,000-pound feet find. The shore is a cove — a crescent of sand and sea stack 400 feet wide between two headlands of basalt. The basalt is the thing the 620-foot frames step over and the stepping over is the thing the headlands become the walls of. The walls are 300 feet tall. The 300 feet is the thing the 620-foot frames see over and the seeing over is the thing the Pacific fills. The Pacific is the thing the cove opens to and the opening is west. The west is the thing the 620-foot frames face.

Lena's foot enters the water. The water is 52 degrees Fahrenheit. The 52 degrees is the thing the 980-times density skin does not register as cold. The not registering is the thing the 800,000-pound body's fat layer provides. The fat layer is 14 inches deep and the 14 inches is the thing the 52 degrees cannot reach the muscle through. The muscle is 980-times density. The muscle is warm. The warm is the thing the wish fills the body with and the filling is the thing the Pacific cannot cool. The Pacific is the thing the 620-foot frame's foot sinks into the sand under and the sinking is the thing the 800,000 pounds do to the shoreline. The shoreline compresses. The compressing is the thing the 620-foot frame's foot leaves a print in and the print is 80 feet long and 12 feet deep and the 12 feet is the thing the tide will fill in six hours.

Diane marks the northern headland. The marking is the thing the 620-foot frame's urine does to the basalt. The urine is 980-times density mineral content and the mineral content is the thing the basalt does not absorb. The urine runs down the 300-foot rock face and the running is the thing the tide will not wash away because the 980-times density mineral content bonds to the stone. The bonding is the thing the territory begins with. The territory is the cove. The cove is the thing the 620-foot frames claim and the claiming is the thing the headlands define. The northern headland is Diane's mark. The southern headland is the thing Lena walks to.

Lena marks the southern headland. The marking is the thing the 620-foot frame's urine does to the basalt and the doing is the thing the 620-foot frame's body produces without effort. The effort is the thing the 800,000-pound body does not feel. The body feels the warmth. The warmth is the thing the marking fills and the filling is the thing the wish does. The wish fills the marking with the body's mineral signature and the signature is the thing the territory holds. The territory is the cove. The cove is 400 feet of sand and 300 feet of headland walls and the Pacific opening west. The Pacific is the thing the 620-foot frames' territory faces.

The cove is the thing the 620-foot frames sit in. The sitting is the thing the 800,000-pound bodies do to the sand and the doing is the thing the sand compresses into a shelf 14 feet deep. The shelf is the thing the 620-foot frames' weight creates and the creating is the thing the tide will not undo. The tide is the thing the 620-foot frames do not need to time because the 620-foot frames are the thing the tide moves around. The tide does not move the 620-foot frames. The 620-foot frames are the thing the tide accommodates. The accommodating is the thing the water does to the 800,000-pound bodies the way the water does to the sea stacks — the water goes around. The going around is the thing the territory gives the 620-foot frames. The territory gives the 620-foot frames the shore and the water and the headlands and the headlands are the thing the marks hold. The marks are the thing the territory is. The territory is the thing the 620-foot frames have. The having is the thing the warmth fills. The warmth is the wish. The wish is the thing that does not stop. The not stopping is the thing the Pacific hears. The Pacific is the thing the 620-foot frames face. The facing is the thing that is. The is. The is. The is.

Lena's hearing reaches 14 miles along the coast. The 14 miles is the thing the 620-foot frame's auditory cortex maps at the new density and the mapping is the thing the coast provides. The coast is the thing the 620-foot frame's territory extends to and the extending is the thing the hearing defines. The hearing is the territory. The territory is the thing the 620-foot frames hear and the hearing is 14 miles of coastline north and 14 miles south and 14 miles east into the Olympic Peninsula and 200 miles west into the Pacific. The 200 miles is the thing the 620-foot frame's olfactory receptors reach and the reaching is the thing the salt and the kelp and the gray whale 60 miles offshore fill. The gray whale is the thing the 620-foot frame's hearing resolv