Happy Saturday, friends. Here is the next chapter of my children’s book. I would love some feedback and even kind criticisms. Thank you.
Also, I am having trouble getting my tags to work correctly. You can read the story in full on the PAGE that is called Gracie, the Green Sea Turtle.

Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug. 🙂

CHAPTER EIGHT

“Wait up, guys!” Gretchen puffed. She was having a hard time keeping up with everyone, because she hadn’t eaten yet, and knew her blood sugar was too low. “Wait! I can’t run that fast!”

They all stopped and turned around. “What’s the joke, slowpoke?” Samuel laughed.

Gretchen had to smile. She hadn’t heard that expression since she was little. “Ha, ha. Very funny, Samuel. I haven’t eaten since this morning so I am really running out of steam. Do you guys mind if I go back and eat something quick and catch up with you in a minute?”

Gracie said, “Do you want me to come with you? Just in case you pass out and people start walking all over you or something?”

Gretchen knew Gracie well enough to know that was a payback dig for what she had said earlier. Gretchen nodded. “If you wouldn’t mind. I’ll grab something to bring with me, okay?”

The boys looked at each other and Eddie said, “Well, okay then. We’ll wait for you down the beach. “Let’s go!” he yelled to Samuel.

“Yeah!” Then the boys took off racing each other.

When the girls began walking back, Gretchen said, “I’m not really super hungry. I just wanted to say I was sorry about what I said earlier. It totally slipped Gracie. Please believe me. I would never want to hurt you like that on purpose especially in front of the boy you like!” She grinned widely.

“It was kind of mean, but I know. I just wish I wasn’t so stupid. I wish I didn’t have to work so hard just to get a B!”

“You are NOT stupid! I wish you would stop saying that all the time. I know that is how this disability makes you feel, but everyone has some kind of limitation in some area of their life. Look at the kids at school who are physically handicapped and in Special Ed! Most of them hardly ever think about it, because they just know it is part of who they are. I think you just need to accept your disability and make up your mind to work hard. I don’t mean to sound like your mom, but I just think you would do so much better if you did. You know I’m always here to help you, too.” She bumped shoulders with Gracie, and Gracie bumped back. Then they began giggling and decided to turn around and run towards the boys and the turtle.

——————

When the girls reached the end of the beach, there was a small crowd there. They looked for the boys for a few minutes until they heard Eddie bellowing out their names and waving them over to where he and Samuel were sstanding. When the girls found them, they looked down at this amazing creature with mouths wide open.

Together they said, “Wow!” Then they bent down, slowly reached out and touched the sea turtle’s shell. The turtle’s eyes followed the movement of their hands, then she grunted.

Everyone crouched around her in a circle. They were all mesmerized by the enormity of her body. Her flippers alone were a couple of feet long and very wide. The boys didn’t have any words. They sat and examined every inch of her with curious eyes.

Suddenly she began moving her back flippers very swiftly. She began to dig in the sand. People grabbed their small children cautiously and told them to stand back. The kids squealed with delight. One child who looked to be about three years old yelled, “Look, Mama! She’s gonna dig a hole! She’s gonna dig a hole!” He clapped his hands and jumped up and down.

Eddie’s voice was speaking before he realized he was talking out loud, not just in his head. He was telling the child that she was digging a hole to lay her eggs in. The child put his hands on his hips and said, “I know! Everyone knows that!” The mother scolded him and made him apologize for being a smart-aleck. He did, but when she wasn’t looking, he stuck his tongue out at Eddie.

Samuel and the girls laughed, but Eddie scowled at him to try and scare him. It didn’t make any difference. He just stuck his tongue out again, but this time his mother saw him. She grabbed his hand and said, “Let’s go. If that’s how you’re going to behave, you don’t get to see the sea turtle anymore. I’m taking you back to your father.” Then she apologized to Eddie and left.

“Wow. What a goofy little kid!” Eddie said. “I bet he’s gonna get wailed on when he gets back to his dad!” Just then they heard a whack! and the little boy cryied out loudly. “Huh! I guess she didn’t wait to get him back to his dad after all!” Then he and the snickered.

“I wonder how long it’s going to take her to lay her eggs?” Gretchen questioned.

© Patsy H. Parker

Hello everyone. I’m getting back to my children’s book now that I have a little more time. The kids only have one more day of school before their Christmas break! However, our dog isn’t doing very well. She needs lots of prayers today.

Have a great day, and give someone you love a big hug! 🙂

CHAPTER SEVEN

When they came out of the water, Samuel shook out his long hair like a dog. The girls squeeled and laughed. They decided to go find Samuel’s mom. They reached the blanket a few minutes later and saw she had all of the food sitting out waiting for them. It was twilight by then, so they could still see what they were eating without flashlights. The tide was coming in a little bit, but they were far enough from shore so they didn’t have to worry about getting wet. Lucy saw the boys running towards her with the girls trailing behind laughing. She thought to herself how great it must be to feel so carefree.

Smiling, she waved them over to their spot. She said hello to the girls and welcomed them. “Wow!” Lucy laughed. “Did you decide to go swimming in your clothes?”

Samuel said, “No. The girls attacked Eddie, so I had to retaliate! Then it became a dunking contest, I think.” He smiled at Gretchen.

Lucy caught the look. She thought, Oh boy, he’s falling hard for her! How cute. Lucy asked the girls where their parents were to make sure they weren’t there alone. They pointed out Gracie’s mom.

“Is it okay if the boys come up to where my mom is so they can try some of her food, too?” Gracie asked.

“Sure. Do you guys want anything here first?”

Samuel said, “Heck yeah, Mom! Your fried chicken is the best! Of course,” he hesitated, “I haven’t tasted Gracie’s mom’s chicken yet.” He winked at her.

“Well, I’m sure hers is very tasty as well, Samuel.” She smiled at Gracie.

“Do you girls want to try a cookie?” Lucy asked.

“Sure. Thank you,” they said in unison as they reached out for one.

Eddie said, “You two sure do say the same thing at the same time a lot. It’s almost like you’re twins!”

Gracie said, “We might as well be. Our moms are best friends. We were born a month apart. I’M the oldest.” She elbowed Gretchen in the ribs.

“Yeah, I’ve been hearing that my whole life. She’s constantly rubbing it in.” Gretchen laughed. “But we both know I am smarter than she is. I’ve always gotten the best grades.”

Gracie’s smile faded quickly. She didn’t have a comeback for Gretchen’s boast either. Eddie noticed it and wondered if school was a sore subject he should avoid with Gracie. He filed the thought away.

They all sat down and started piling food onto their plates. Gracie said she wasn’t very hungry, but she took a chicken wing and some chips. Lucy asked her if that was all she wanted, and she replied that she wasn’t very hungry. Gretchen looked at Gracie and mouthed “sorry.” Gracie barely smiled and only nibbled at her food. After she was done eating, she said she wanted to go see if her mom needed anything. Gretchen asked her if she wanted company, but Gracie shook her head saying she would be right back.

When Gracie was gone, Eddie whispered to Gretchen, “Is she okay? She seemed to get upset about what you said. I thought you guys were just joking around.”

“She’s definitely upset! I shouldn’t have said that. It slipped. She has never gotten really good grades. No one could ever figure out why until last year when she had Mrs. Benson for English. Somehow she noticed mistakes in Gracie’s work that made her think she might have dyslexia. So she told Gracie’s mom. Her mom had her tested, and it was confirmed. It explained a lot about all of the problems she’s had all these years in school. It bothers her a lot, so she won’t talk about it with anyone…even me, and I’m her best friend! Her mom says she thinks Gracie just hasn’t accepted it yet. We are hoping she will come around before the school year starts again.

Eddie nodded. “Well, I understand how she feels. I have it, too. I was lucky enough to have a teacher in second grade who caught it. So there’s lots of techniques she can learn for studying that makes it a little easier once she learns them. It is still hard to study, though. Ever since I got help, I’ve liked reading a whole lot more. This might be a dumb question, but does she like reading?”

“She loves fiction, especially John Green’s books. But when her mom got one of them for her a couple of years ago for Christmas, she ended up reading it out loud to Gracie. I think that made her feel embarrassed, so she has been listening to books on CD ever since.”

“Well, maybe I can just talk to her about school sometime and bring up my dyslexia. Maybe she’ll talk with me about it. What do you think?”

“Hey!” Gretchen said excitedly. “I think that would be great! I hope she will talk about it with you. I hate seeing her like this. Oh look! Here she comes.” She held her index finger to her lips and said, “Shhh!”

Gracie was running towards them yelling, “Hey you guys! Guess what my mom heard?”

They all said, “What?” in unison. She stopped, bent over and caught her breath first. “She said someone about a half mile down the beach saw a sea turtle!”

The boys jumped up and said, “Really?”

Gretchen joined them and said, “Let’s go see! Let’s go see!” She was jumping up and down flailing her arms in the air.

Lucy said, “Well, don’t you want to eat first?”

The kids gave her a blank stare. Then Samuel said, “Mom, we want to go see it before it’s gone! Can’t you get someone to watch our stuff and go with us?”

She said, “No. I was just kidding. Go! Go! The food will keep. Just take the flashlight, and be careful.”

Samuel grabbed the flashlight and said, “Okay! We’ll be back in a little bit.” He turned to the others and said, “Come on! I can’t wait to see this! How lucky are we that it came tonight?”

Then they ran down the beach to find the sea turtle. Their laughter rang through the air while running as fast as they could.

© Patsy H. Parker

By the time Samuel and his mom reached the beach, it was nightfall. They turned on their flashlights even though the back lights from people’s beach homes were all on. They walked along for awhile until they heard Eddie calling Samuel’s name. They looked in the direction of his voice to see him jumping up and down and waving his arms wildly. Samuel ran over to the spot he had saved. When he got there, he dropped all the stuff onto Eddie’s blanket.

“Wow, Eddie, you found a great spot! We’re close to the water, but not too close so that everything gets wet when the tide comes in more. There sure are a lot of people here. I hope the girls show up tonight.”

“They probably will. They usually come every year.” Eddie said. “I bet that…”

“Hi guys!” The boys turned to see the girls running toward them. They gave each other side glances and sly grins. The girls stopped suddenly in front of them giggling.

“Beat ya!” Gretchen said.

“Did not. It was a tie!” Gracie frowned. Then she looked at Eddie and smiled shyly.

“Hi ya, Eddie. When did you get here?”

“Oh, just a little while ago. How about you?”

“Yeah, me, too. We came together,” she said as she looked at Gretchen. “So whatcha guys been doing?”

“Nothing much yet. Samuel and his mom just got here. I was saving our spot. My parents are out of town.”

Gracie’s brows raised. “On the Fourth of July? Why?” she exclaimed.

Eddie blushed. He tried to look like it didn’t bother him. “Oh, ya know, some convention for work or something. They aren’t big on celebrating it. They’re always home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, though. Where are your parents?”

Gracie pointed to a spot up by the concession stand and said, “Up there. That’s our usual spot. My mom comes out here at like noon or something to make sure no one else takes it. She sits on the beach all afternoon until my dad comes. I had to sit there for a while this morning while she fixed our dinner for tonight and packed it up. We’re having fried chicken (cold of course), potato salad, coleslaw (because I don’t like potato salad), some kind of weird bean salad, a watermelon, and brownies I think. Geez, you’d think we had like ten people in our family or something! She always makes way too much food, then complains later when we have so much leftover. I don’t get it at all!”

Eddie stared at her while she talked thinking about how much he liked her and how she had been talking all this time without taking a breath. Her hands were waving all around at the same time. He thought it was cute. Then he heard her ask, “Is your mom like that, Samuel?”

Samuel was just staring at Gretchen and spacing out. Eddie poked him and said, “Hey! Gracie just asked you a question, dude! Weren’t you listening?”

Gretchen laughed and lowered her eyes without really taking them off of Samuel. She said, “Yeah, we heard her. So, Samuel. Does your mom make way too much food for you guys like Gracie’s mom does?”

“Uh…oh…no. We never have anything left. She doesn’t eat a huge amount, but Eddie and I can put it away!”

“Oh, well, then you guys will have to help put some of our food away.” said Gracie. “My mom would probably appreciate having big eaters around again since my brothers aren’t here any more. You don’t have to eat the salads if you don’t want to. You can just help with the watermelon and brownies.”

Eddie said, “I happen to like bean salads. Depending on the beans, that is. You know. I like the ones that make you f…” Samuel hit his shoulder and said, “Hey! I know what we can do. Let’s go down to the water and look for shells!” The girls looked at each other knowingly and giggled.

They said in unison, “Okay! Race ya!”

Eddie and Samuel took off running through the crowd followed by the girls. They yelled after them, “Hey! Wait up!”

Samuel turned around and yelled while running backwards, “You said it was a race! Come on. Try to beat us!” He winked.

They pumped their legs faster until Gretchen tripped and fell. Then Samuel stopped and ran to her and said, “Hey, are you okay?” just as she winked at him and kept going. He looked confused for a second until she and Gracie both yelled as they kept running, “It’s the oldest trick in the world, dude!” and giggled. He laughed out loud and yelled back, “Oh yeah? Well, we’ll see if it works.” Then he took off running after them as fast as he could, but even trying his hardest, he couldn’t catch up.

When they reached the water, it turned out Eddie had won and was doing a splashing victory dance and yelling, “Whoop! Whoop! Who’s the fastest? Yeah, that’s me!” The girls were splashing him for a minute, then looked at each other, nodded, and ran at him full force, dunking him under. Samuel ran to his rescue, pulled him up and then dunked each of the girls. They continued this craziness for a few minutes until the girls called a truce. Then they all looked at each other for a few seconds and burst into laughter. Samuel had never felt so happy in his life.

Copyrighted Patsy H. Parker

At dusk Samuel and his mom started getting ready to meet Eddie at the beach. They could hear all the local people gathering near the shore already. The people who shot off the fireworks every year did it from the boat dock down the street by the harbor. They drove a boat out on the water as far away from the people as they could get. Samuel had never heard of anyone getting hurt from fireworks around there before. The men and women who put on the display had been doing it for many years.

Lucy asked him, “So do you have the blanket?”

“Check!” Saumuel said.

“The flashlight?”

“Check!”

“The picnic basket?”

“Check!”

“The food?”

“Ch…hey! What? The food is IN the picnic basket, Mom!”

“Gotcha!”

Samuel laughed and said, “Mom, you’re goofy!”

“Yep, that’s me! Okay, let’s go! Did Eddie say he was coming over or meeting us there?” she asked.

Samuel said, “Oh I guess he’s meeting us. He said he’d get there early and save our usual spot. I guess his parents had some kind of business barbecue to go to. He’s pretty bummed, so it’s up to us to cheer him up, okay?”

“That’s a shame. I can’t believe his father can’t just have one holiday with his family for a change. He really doesn’t know what he’s missing, does he?”

“Nope! Eddie’s such a great guy, and he never gets in trouble like other kids whose parents don’t spend enough time with them. I’m glad you leave your job at the office when you come home, Mom! I can’t imagine hardly ever getting to see you! That would be awful!”

“It would…just like racoons do to chicken eggs!”

“What?”

She grinned, “Oh that’s just something silly my mom used to say. You remember how she was!”

“Yeah. I miss Grandma and Grandpa, Mom. It’s not fair that everyone in our family had to die!”

“Well, not everyone died! There’s still my sister.” She raised an eyebrow.

“Hmmm. Yeah, it’s not fair that everyone in our family died!”

“Samuel! She means well. I think losing Clay hit her harder than any of us, even me. They were so close. She loved you, too, of course, but there was just something extra special about their bond. I’m not sure what it was. I think being around us is harder for her now.”

“Well, let’s go, Mom. No more serious talk tonight, okay? Let’s go have some fun!”

“Okay, buddy.”

© Patsy H. Parker

To be continued….

© Patsy H. Parker

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

The next day they decided to go surfing. When Sam came up on a wave and was getting ready to stand up on his surf board, he yelled out, “Whoa! What is that, Eddie?” He saw a huge dark shadow moving around under the surface of the water.

© Patsy H. Parker