I cursed, for sure. The stretch of time between closing my eyes and opening them again had been too brief.
It was still very dark and at least one child was awake and the dog was squirming. I had expected to remain asleep, comforted by the drone of crashing waves, at least until I saw daylight.
I left the boys in the house with a book and three sleeping adults and slipped out to the beach with an excited dog.
Lights from crabbing boats floated in the distance. The sun was still hours from making an appearance.
As I crept up to each shadow of mass, I was certain a sea creature, washed ashore overnight, would be revealed. I both wanted this to happen, and hoped it would not. I was eager to discover something delivered by the tide, yet I feared an encounter with a giant mammal, suffering.
The day emerged and the texture of the land and water all around us became more defined. We turned and made our way back to the house. We walked back along the same stretch of beach, but there were no creatures, no more giant beasts washed ashore. The beach was now littered only with root wads and driftwood.
all content © Tim LaBarge 2013