"Then, all at once, he thought of the ocean - the ocean he had seen from the deck of the ship that brought him from Japan to Manchuria. he had never seen the ocean before, nor had he seen it since. That had happened eight years ago. He could still remember the smell of the salt air. The ocean was one of the greatest things he had ever seen in his life - bigger and deeper than anything he had imagined. It changed its color and shape and expression according to time and place and weather. It aroused a deep sadness in his heart, and at the same time it brought his heart peace and comfort. Would he ever see it again? He loosened his grip and let the bat fall to the ground. It made a dry sound as it struck the earth. After the bat left his hands, he felt a slight increase in his nausea.
The wind-up bird went on crying, but no one else could hear its call."
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami