Touching Spirit Bear Fifteen

In our last chapter we had Garvey make symbolism with hot dogs. Unfortunately it wasn't sexual. Fortunately we all bypassed that and turned it into our own special little symbol of love.
Garvey continues his wonderful non-innuendo by telling Cole that tomorrow they dance their feelings! Yes. Nothing sexual about that. I'm surprised he's able to say it with a straight face.
Cole goes to sleep... and tosses and turns a lot. He thinks about the Spirit Bear and wonders if it's still out there, if it was angry, did it miss him, did it want to go out on a date? Okay, maybe not the last two. He wonders what his mother was thinking, if she missed him. What his father was thinking. He hopes that Peter would be okay. Not kidding about that last one. No really. Not.
As he thinks he gets angry. Angry Cole SMASH!! Angry Cole thinks about his past and future and how he was going to have to do all the work around the island even with his bum arm. He doesn't actually think about his past or his future. We're just told that he does. Once again he seems to be showing when he should be telling and telling when he should be showing.
Edwin wakes Cole up in the very early morning before sunrise. He's all very mysterious and leads Cole off to the woods. They talk for a bit and Edwin remarks about how Cole was tossing and turning. Cole says that he was thinking, "My mind gets to thinking and won't quit *mad cackling noises* Think? Him?. Like it's chewing on tough meat. It won't swallow a thought, and it won't spit it out. It just keeps chewing it over and over." It seems to be a rather thoughtful bit of words from Cole, who doesn't normally express himself beyond "I HATE YOU" But since this is the new and improved Cole, he obviously is allowed to wax poetically.
They get to a lake Edwin strips off all his clothes and tells Eragon Cole to do the same. There is no gratuitous body oogling scene for which we are grateful. I don't want to see any sort of lingering description of Edwin's potbelly or groin areas. Once derobed they go into the water and Cole bitches about the fact that it's freezing. They get to a ledge where they7 sit chest deep in water on some underwater rocks.
Edwin has a stick.
No, not that sort of stick.
He tells Cole that the right side is his happiness and the left his anger. And then he tells Cole to break off the left side. Can you see where this is going? Cole eventually says, "But it'll always have a left side" and Edwin goes "Exactly!" And I get a concussion.
While Kips has her concussion and ass pain. *snerks* I'll take over for a bit.
Right, so Edwin is sharing his Native Tribal Wisdom©. He tells Cole to look up at the sky. Half of it is stormy the other half is sunny and clear. Is it a stormy or is it clear and nice? Is the glass half empty or the glass half full? Edwin drones on about how he spent time on the island and how it helped him deal with his anger. I kinda fell asleep at this point. But apparently the pond is supposed to make Cole learn to be happy one day at a time. There's symbolism there if you can find it. Apparently being a pessimist is bad and we all must be happy hippies like Edwin and Garvey who have conquered their anger and become one with the universe. After all conforming to the majority culture and sharing their opinions is the only way to go as opposed to finding your own way and creating your own life and yeah, okay maybe it doesn't exactly jive with what the rest of society says is right but if you're happy then good for you. And yes Cole may not be happy but this also may not be the way to get him to be happy, but of course it will be because the wisdom of the Tribal Elders is always right.
Next chapter Cole dances like a whale!
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