The shore exists only at ebb. The water has returned some things that are yours: a button, a key, a photograph, a sentence you almost said. Nothing can be carried past the wrack line — but describe a thing truly, out loud, all the way to the end of the sentence, and the water counts that as keeping. The Tide-Walker will help you look. They will not hurry you, flatter you, or remember you. The tide is already turning.