Sunshine Reading Club
Title
24/02/16 2:53 pm
The Circle Shell
Chapter One
One summer morning Sandra’s mother, Olivia, said, “Tony’s just called. He asked if
we’d like to go to the beach today.”
“Oh yes! Let’s go to Shelly Bay,” Sandra said. Olivia hesitated. “What about Fisher’s
Cove? That’s a lovely beach.”
“Yes, but there isn’t any surf. I want to use my new bodyboard and Tony said he’d
teach me.”
Tony Taylor was her mother’s friend. Olivia hesitated again. Sandra took a deep
breath.
“You never want to go to Shelly Bay. It’s something to do with Dad, isn’t it?”
Her mother nodded. “Yes, Shelly Bay was where he drowned.”
“You’ve never actually told me how it happened. I’m old enough now,” said Sandra.
“Please tell me.”
Olivia sighed. “I still find it hard to talk about, but I’ll try. It was our sixth wedding
anniversary. As a surprise, your father had rented a small sailboat for the day. We left
you at your aunt’s house and had a picnic lunch at Shelly Bay. I picked up some
shells from the beach. The sun was still shining as we swam back to the sailboat.
Later, as we sat on the deck, I showed him the shells. One of them was broken, just
a small circle from the base of a trumpet shell. He picked it up, and put it on my
finger. I can see him smiling as he held it. “When we sailed back to the boat sheds,
the boom swung over and struck your father, and he fell overboard. He must have
been knocked unconscious, because he was such a strong swimmer. He taught you
to swim…” Sandra put her arms around her mother.
“The circle shell is a memory of the last afternoon we spent together,” Olivia said
quietly. Olivia wiped her eyes. “I guess I’ve got to accept that it just happened. After
all, if I hadn’t met your father we wouldn’t have had those wonderful years together,
and I wouldn’t have you.” She smiled.
http://www.sunshinereadingclub.com/pages/teacher/translation.asp?types=1&cateseq4=496
Page 1 of 10
Sunshine Reading Club
24/02/16 2:53 pm
“I know how you love the surf. OK, we’ll go to Shelly Bay. I’ll call Tony back and say we’ll
be ready in an hour.”
“Please remind him to bring his board, too,” Sandra said.
Sandra’s mother had gone out with Tony for two years. Sandra liked him. He was a
counselor at the local college, and Sandra felt at ease when he was around. He didn’t
make her feel “in the way.”
A basket of food for lunch was ready by the time Tony’s car pulled up in the driveway.
“I’ve packed cold drinks and fruit,” Tony said as he opened the door. “It’s high tide at
Shelly Bay at noon. If we leave now we’ll be there in good time. Come on, Sandra, let’s
load that bodyboard of yours.”
Chapter Two
Sandra’s mother was rather quiet in the car during the trip to the coast. Even though five
years had passed, returning to the bay for the first time brought back painful memories.
The parking lot at the end of the beach was already crowded by the time they arrived.
“Hi there, Mr. Taylor!” some college boys called out as they were unloading the car.
Sandra also recognized Mel and Tina, some classmates from school. She waved to them
as they walked through the parking lot toward the beach.
Soon Sandra was in the water trying out her new board. She had been given it for her
last birthday. Pausing to watch Olivia and Tony swimming, Sandra wondered what it
would be like to have two parents. Sometimes she hoped her mother would marry again,
even though Olivia said that marriage was “not on her agenda.”
After a while her mother waved and called out, “I’m going in now. I’ll leave you two to
your surfing.”
Tony ran to collect his board and returned to the water. Sandra was having trouble
catching the waves.
“I don’t know what I’m doing wrong,” Sandra told Tony. “I seem to go fine for a few yards,
then I’ve lost the wave.”
“Try holding your board like this,” Tony said, standing beside her. “That’s it. That’s a
better angle. Now let’s wait until the next big one comes, and we’ll try going in together.
I’ll tell you when to kick off.”
http://www.sunshinereadingclub.com/pages/teacher/translation.asp?types=1&cateseq4=496
Page 3 of 10
Sunshine Reading Club
24/02/16 2:53 pm
After a few more tries, and the frustration of watching Tony skimming yards ahead on
his board, Sandra began to get it right.
“This could be a really good one!” Tony said as another big wave rolled toward them.
Sandra timed it perfectly. The wave carried her right up onto the beach.
“That was fantastic!” Sandra exclaimed, picking up her board and turning back toward
the surf.
“You’ve really got it now,” Tony nodded, “but let’s go and find out what’s in that lunch
basket.”
Sandra hadn’t realized how hungry she was. They had chicken and salad, and a
crusty loaf of bread with cheese. The melon and fresh orange juice Tony had brought
were cool and refreshing.
Chapter Three
After lunch Olivia suggested going for a walk around the headland.
“Can I go for another swim instead?”
Sandra asked. “While the tide’s still in?”
“No,” her mother replied. “I don’t want you swimming on your own. You can stay here.
We’ll be back in half an hour and you can go in then.”
Sandra was sitting under the beach umbrella when she heard familiar voices. It was
Mel and Tina, carrying their boards.
“Hi, Sandra! Coming in for a swim?”
Sandra hesitated, remembering what her mother had said.
“I’d love to, but Mom said I had to wait until she got back. She doesn’t like me
swimming on my own.”
“But you wouldn’t be on your own. You’d be with us,” Mel said.
“Don’t push her—while we’re talking, the tide’s going out,” said Tina. “Come on, race
you into the water!” Tina and Mel ran off down the beach.
Sandra looked at her watch. It could be 20 minutes before the adults returned. Surely
her mother wouldn’t mind her swimming with friends. She wouldn’t be on her own.
Sandra picked up her board, and ran to join the others.
http://www.sunshinereadingclub.com/pages/teacher/translation.asp?types=1&cateseq4=496
Page 5 of 10
Sunshine Reading Club
24/02/16 2:53 pm
She could see Mel and Tina in the water, farther down the beach. But as she waded
towards them through the waves they didn’t seem to get any closer. She could feel
a crosscurrent dragging her legs, the pull becoming more powerful with every step.
When Sandra realized she was in a rip, she turned back for the shore. But it was
too late. A deep hole had been scoured in the seabed. Sandra overbalanced, lost
her footing, and her board was swept away. She was swimming for her life.
Sandra remembered what she’d been taught. Don’t panic. Go out with the rip, don’t
fight it. Hold up your hand to show you need help. The trouble was, no one seemed
to notice she was in trouble. Mel and Tina appeared to have forgotten about her,
and there were fewer swimmers in the water than before. Sandra gasped for breath
as she struggled to keep afloat.
“Help!” she shouted desperately. “Mom! Tony!” She gasped again as she swallowed
a mouthful of salty water.
Chapter Four
Sandra could feel herself sinking under the surface when she remembered her
father’s words from their swimming lessons.
“Hang in there, Sandra. Don’t panic in the water. Go with the rip. Don’t fight it.”
She kept repeating the words he had said. “Don’t panic.” It was as though his words
were wrapped around her, supporting her as she rose above the water, and she
drifted farther out into the bay. Then she realized she was out of the rip. She kept
her chin up and breathed evenly. Soon she would be back to the shore and safe
again.
Sandra was shivering as she collapsed onto the sand. A crowd of blurred faces
leaned over her.
“Look, her eyes are opening!”
“She’s breathing better now.”
“Looks like she’s going to be OK.”
“I wonder who she is?”
Then Sandra heard her mother’s voice in the distance.
http://www.sunshinereadingclub.com/pages/teacher/translation.asp?types=1&cateseq4=496
Page 6 of 10
Sunshine Reading Club
24/02/16 2:53 pm
“It’s Sandra! I knew we should have come back earlier!”
The crowd stepped back as Olivia and Tony ran towards them. Olivia knelt down and
cradled Sandra in her arms.
“What happened, darling?” she cried. “Are you all right?”
Sandra could only nod faintly.
“Did anyone see what happened?” she heard Tony ask.
Someone in the crowd answered. “Seems she was caught in a rip. She seems to
have gotten back to the beach on her own. We saw her fall onto the sand and took
over from there.”
Sandra’s mother looked around. The crowd was beginning to drift away.
“Who saved her? I want to say thank you.”
The remaining bystanders looked around, and shrugged. “We don’t know. We didn’t
see anyone.”
“Don’t know what happened.”
“We’d better get Sandra home,” Tony said. “She needs a check-up and a good rest
after that ordeal.”
It wasn’t until she was being helped back towards the car that Sandra realized she
was clutching something in her hand. When she saw what it was, her heartbeat
quickened.
Chapter Five
That night, after Tony had left, Sandra’s mother sat on the end of her bed.
“Do you feel well enough to talk to me about what happened?” she asked.
Sandra nodded. She told her about Mel and Tina and going for a swim.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I made a mistake and I’ve learned from it.”
“I think we’ve all learned something today,” Olivia replied. She paused. “While Tony
and I were around the headland, I got a strong feeling that you were calling me. I was
about to say I wanted to go back when I thought,
‘I’m being over-protective. Sandra’s OK—she’s just sitting on the beach.’ ”
http://www.sunshinereadingclub.com/pages/teacher/translation.asp?types=1&cateseq4=496
Page 8 of 10
Sunshine Reading Club
24/02/16 2:53 pm
Olivia sighed, then said, “So we carried on, and I tried to block out the feeling I had.
But when we came back and saw the crowd on the beach I knew immediately that
something had happened to you.”
She looked thoughtful. “I’m so proud of you. I don’t know how you did it.”
Sandra said, “After our talk I realized how important Dad was in my life, too. I
remembered everything he told me about being in trouble in the water, even though
I was only five at the time. I kept hearing his voice in my head and I didn’t feel
afraid. And I didn’t panic.”
Sandra hesitated, then continued, “When I collapsed on the beach, I found this in
the sand.” She passed her mother a small broken shell, in the shape of a circle.
Olivia’s eyes widened.
“Try it on,” Sandra urged her.
Her mother’s hand was trembling as she tried to slip the shell on her ring finger, but
it didn’t fit. She passed it back to her daughter.
“You keep it,” she whispered. “My fingers aren’t as slim as they were.”
Sandra’s mother hugged her, and then said, “Maybe what happened today was a
lesson for both of us. Time moves on. It is good that your father is in your thoughts
but perhaps we need to have another future—meaning you, me, and…another
man. What do you think?”
“Don’t ask me—ask Tony,” Sandra said with a smile, and soon fell fast asleep.
http://www.sunshinereadingclub.com/pages/teacher/translation.asp?types=1&cateseq4=496
Page 9 of 10