Eddie and Samuel paddled to shore on their surf boards. As soon as they reached shallow waters, they hopped off of them and dragged them to the beach. They picked them up and ran home as fast as they could. When they came to the house, they leaned their boards up against it carefully. Then bounding up the stairs, Samuel pulled the screen door open holding it for Eddie, letting it slam, then hearing his mother promptly yelling at him to stop doing that.

“Sorry, Mom. Mom! Mom!” Samuel was flailing his arms about and jumping back and forth on his tiptoes. “Mom, guess what? You’ll NEVER guess what we saw! Up close and everything! Guess! Guess!”

His mom started to speak when he blurted out, “We saw a sea turtle, Mom! A real live sea turtle up close in the water!” Her mouth dropped open the same way theirs had when they saw it.

“You did not! Really?”

Eddie said, “Yes, we did! Really! It was HUGE!! Samuel, tell her what it was doing! Tell her!”

Samuel became serious and almost whispering, he said, “It was chasing a lobster! We watched it for a long time, too! Well, it seemed like forever while it was going on, but it was probably just a couple of minutes.”

She said, “Did the sea turtle catch it?”

Eddie answered, “Yeah! It was so cool! Once it got hold of the lobster, it just started tearing into it. He shredded that lobster really fast! It was awesome!”

Samuel said in a mellow tone, “I wish you could have been with us, Mom. You would have loved it. It was the most exciting thing I’ve ever seen, especially when we found out that huge thing in the water wasn’t a shark! We were afraid it was when we first saw it. What a relief!”

“Yes, what a relief indeed! Oh Samuel, I’m so glad you were in the right place at the right time! That’s so wonderful. I wish I had been with you, too. Hey, maybe it’s a female, and she’s going to lay some eggs on the beach! That would be exciting, too. We should take a moonlight walk tonight and see if it comes to shore. Only the females come to shore, so if it does, I bet that’s what she’ll do!”

Samuel looked worried. He said, “But mom! It’s going to be the Fourth of July in less than a week! What happens if it is a female who lays her eggs on the beach now? Won’t they get trampled when she leaves them?”

Lucy said, “I don’t know, but don’t they bury them really deep? Even if they get walked over, they might not get broken. We’ll just have to pray no one finds them and digs them up.” She smiled, then said, “Don’t worry. If she comes to lay eggs, they’ll be fine. Mothers know about these things.” She winked at him.

Eddie said, “Yeah, and maybe we’ll get to see it happen! Now THAT would be incredible! I’m going to go home and tell my mom and dad what happened. I’ll see if they want to come with us tonight, okay?”

Samuel’s mom said, “Sure, Eddie. Tell them I’ll pack some snacks.”

“Okay! See ya later!” Eddie said as he waved to them both. Then he ran out of the house, bolted through the squeaky back door and just when he almost let go of it, he stopped and let it close gently.

Samuel’s mother said, “Now, that is how the screen door is supposed to sound when it’s closed, mister!” She tousled his hair roughly and put one arm around his shoulders. “How about we have some lunch? What do you want? Salami and cheese or peanut butter and jelly?”

“I don’t know. PB & J, I guess. Man, mom, I really wish you would have been there with me. You know who else I was thinking about while we were watching it?”

Their eyes locked. He knew she knew, but he said his name anyway. “Clay.” Then he hung his head. Samuel was always afraid to bring up his brother. He never knew how his mother would react.

She put her finger under his chin and lifted his head and grinned. “You’re right about that. He loved sea turtles more than anyone I know! Maybe he can see all the sea turtles in the world from heaven! Do you think he can?”

Samuel shrugged, “I don’t know. Mom,” he said as he gazed up into her face, “I miss him so much. Why did he have to die? It’s not fair.”

She teared up even though she was trying desperately not to cry. She didn’t want Samuel to feel like he could never mention Clay if it was going to make her cry.

“I don’t know, sweetheart. We just don’t have those kinds of answers on this side of heaven. Someday we will, though. You’ll see. But I believe he can see us and misses us just as much as we miss him. He was a good little boy. You were a wonderful big brother to him, too, and he knew it. Let’s see, he would have been eight years old this year. It’s hard to believe he has already been gone for three years. Sometimes it seems like it was yesterday.” Then she breathed in deeply and said, “I’ll get your lunch. What did you want again? PB & J?”

“Yep! Hey, you remembered!”

She grabbed him and tickled him. Laughing, she said, “Never you mind, mister! I don’t forget everything, you know! Go wash your hands.” Then she tousled his hair lightly.

As she watched him run off to the bathroom, she cried a little. She always thought she would never survive it if anything ever happened to Samuel. Thinking back she could still see little Clay’s smiling face, his tears, and hear his laugh, although that was becoming more difficult. She saw herself holding him in her mind’s eye that last day.

To be continued….

© Patsy H. Parker