An Unexpected Day At The Beach
I checked my beach bag. Did I have everything my family and I would need for a day at the beach? It was
the only day in a week that it wasn't supposed to storm. We couldn't wait to get our day started.
"Maybe, this will be the day we will find some shell" I told my husband Charlie.
"I hope. We have been here all week and have yet to find one bigger than a grape." Charlie replied with
a hopeful grin. He grabbed our room key and began to walk out the door. Our nine year old son Liga and
I followed him. Liga held a pail in one hand and a shovel in his other one.
We had spent several months saving for this vacation but still we had barely been able to afford it. We
decided we would try to find some medium to larger size shells to take home with us as souvenirs. The
only problem was we hadn't yet had any luck finding any. We held hope that this would be our lucky
day, if not we would return empty handed.
We decided to go to the state park. It was only twenty minutes down the road from our hotel. We were
disappointed when we arrived at the park because several people were already there. Were they were
in search of shells? I grabbed our beach bag from the back seat.
"Should we lock the car doors?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah. probaly." I said as I locked my own door. "We can place the key inside of the beach bag."
"I'll take my billfold I see they have a little store over there." He nodded to a building to our left. "Maybe
they will have some snacks."
Liga got his bucket. "If we find any shells we can place them in here."
"Great ideal." I said. I reached over and ruffled his blonde hair.
He gave me a smile but it quickly changed to embarrassment when a car full of girls pulled up beside us.
He walked away leaving me feeling at a loss. It seemed my little boy was growing up very quickly. Charlie
looked over at me and simply shrugged.
We walked down the path leading to the water. The sun stared down at us from high in the sky. It
penetrated my skin providing welcomed warmth. Liga walked a little ahead of Charlie and I as if he was
sure people would think we were with him, if they were to see us together. I didn't say a word but my
heart screamed for him to walk with me.
"Where should we begin searching?" Charlie asked. "We can start here or walk a little ways. Maybe
there will be less people farther down. I'll leave that up to you."
"Let’s walk some. If we see shells along the way we can always stop and pick them up." I decided.
Liga gazed around. His eyes grew wide as he took in the scene around him. We had been there before
but it had been a couple years.
I was surprised when almost instantly, I located two larger shells. One of them was a creamy white color
and the other shell was red with a touch of black around it's tip. I had been thrilled to discover that both
of the shells were whole. I picked them up and placed them into Liga's bucket.
Charlie wadded out into the water where he scooped up handfuls of sand. He almost instantly found a
couple of shells about the size of mine.
"I found some." Liga exclaimed. He placed a few of his own shells into the bucket.
"Have you ever seen a sand dollar?" Charlie asked a couple minutes later. He opened his hand to show
off his newest treasure. It was a sand dollar about the size of a half dollar.
"I want it." Liga called out as he took it from Charlie and placed it into his shorts pocket.
We had our bucket half full of shell in less than a half hour but we weren’t ready to give up our search.
We walked a little further down the beach though it seemed like miles. We came across a place without
anybody else around. "Why don't we give this place a try?" I said as I headed out into the water. Liga
placed the bag on the sand a ways back from the water's reach but where we could still see it. Charlie
and Liga splashed into the water together.
"I've got a huge shell."Liga announced a couple minutes later. He held up a tan colored conch shaped
shell. He was making his way over to show it to me when he all of a sudden let out a startled yelp. We all
watched as a crab's legs began to come out.
Charlie laughed. "It's a Hermit Crab." He reached into the water and instantly plucked out another crab.
Charlie and Liga laughed as they placed the crabs back into the water. This happened several more times
before we gave up and moved to another location. We laughed and talked as time quickly slipped away.
The only thing that mattered was our family time. Our fingers and toes wrinkled and our skin began to
turn red but we paid it no mind until our stomachs had begun to growl with hunger.
"I think it's time to go in search of something to eat." I said.
"Can we come back out here after we eat?" Liga asked.
"We'll see." Charlie replied.
We walked over to where we had left our bag and bucket of shells. They were both gone. A few people
now walked around where there hadn't been anybody earlier. Had one of them mistaken our bag as
theirs? I looked but none of them carried our bag. My heart sunk. Where had the bag gone? We asked a
few people if they had seen the bag but they hadn't. Charlie and I decided to split up and search. We
made plans to meet back up at the car a half hour later.
"I'll go with dad." Liga said.
I waked off on my own. My heart raced as I franticly searched every inch of the ground. People darted
glances in my direction, some of their eyes questioned what it was I was doing. I continued to ask
around hoping to find some clue. If the bag wasn't found we would have no keys, money, sunscreen,
towels, shoes or the items that had been in Charlie's billfold. How would we get home? We had brought
ourselves on the trip we would have to take ourselves home somehow. How could it be nobody had
seen the bag? Sweat poured off my skin and burned my eyes. I wiped it away and marched on, knowing I
couldn't let it get me down. I walked for miles up and down the beach without success. I forced myself
to head for the car. I prayed Charlie had had better luck then mine. I could see our car in them distance.
I used my hand to shield my eyes from the sun in hopes I would see Charlie waiting over by the car. My
pace quickened with each step I took. Almost there I had kept telling myself. My sides ached and my
breath became harder to catch. I focused on the car. I didn't notice the briar patch I'd walked into until it
was already too late and they dug into the bottom of my feet. I looked down to find myself in the middle
of the patch. I fell upon the ground in pain. Where was Charlie? "Help! Please! Somebody!" I screamed. I
felt out of options. I had no idea what anybody could do to help me but I knew I wouldn't be able to
make it across on my own. Why hadn't I watched where I was going? I could see people on the beach
but there was nobody nearby. I opened my mouth to scream again when a woman appeared seemingly
out of nowhere. She stared down at me.
"Did you call for help?" She asked with a beautiful smile. I sat for a moment and stared at her. She had
to be at least six feet tall. Her long blond hair cascaded down past her shoulders and ended at her lower
back. I couldn't help but smile back at her as a sudden unexplained peace filled me within.
"Yeah but I'm not sure you can help me." I said.
"You need help getting to the other side." She said.
I nodded. "Yeah." I couldn't help but to think about the questions that must have been running through
her mind about my situation.
"Here let me help you to your feet. Now climb on my back. I'll carry you across to the other side." The
woman said once I was on my feet.
I stood at a loss. Was she serious? How did she plan to carry me on her back? Didn't she see I was much
heavier than her? "I'm not.." I began to say.
"Trust me. Get on my back." She interrupted me. She squatted down and allowed me to climb onto her
back.
I wrapped my legs around her waist and my arm around her neck. "Okay but don't say I didn't try to
warn you." I said.
She stood up once more as I held onto her tightly. "Ready?" She asked.
"When you are." I answered.
She carried me to the other side without hesitation. I stood amazed as she sat me down onto solid
ground. I bent down to wipe off my feet. "Thank you." I said only to glance over and discover that she
was no longer there. I looked around but she was no longer in sight. Instead I saw Charlie and Liga sitting
over by the snack bar. They were surrounded by other people. I walked over to them. Charlie laughed
with the people as if there was nothing else he would rather be doing.
"Mommy, do you want a snack or a drink?" Liga raced over to me. He held a can of grape soda in one
hand and a bag of cheesy chips in his other hand.
"You found the bag?" I asked.
"No. We didn't." Liga shook his head. "We looked everywhere."
"Then how did you get those?" I asked gesturing to his treats.
"The people over there bought daddy and I both some." He raced back over to where Charlie sat on the
sidewalk.
"No luck?" Charlie asked as he stared up at me.
"I couldn't find the bag." I admitted in defeat.
"Well there's a tow truck on the way here. They are going to take the car back to their lot. I've also
called the place we rented the car from. They said they have another car we can use but first we must
find our way to the airport. There's a rental place located there.
"We have no money or other way to get to the airport." I reminded him.
"Don't worry; I've got it under control." He said just as the tow truck pulled into the parking lot. "You
stay here with Liga. I'll go talk to them." He nodded towards the tow truck.
"While you're doing that, my wife and I will do a little more searching," The man who stood beside
Charlie said. He walked off followed by a woman wearing sunglasses. I was left to wonder who they
were.
Liga and I stood silently watching as the tow truck driver used a winch to open the driver's side door on
the rental car. Charlie grabbed a garbage bag out of the car's backseat. He began to load into it what
little belongings we’d had left in the car. Charlie finished loading the bag and set it to the side before he
headed over to help load the car onto the hauling trailer.
The driver secured the car with straps before he hopped up inside his truck and drove off.
"Now what?" I asked Charlie when he walked over to us with the garbage bag thrown over his shoulder.
He set it down at my feet.
"I called for a cab about twenty minutes ago. He should be here any time." Charlie replied.
"What about the couple who went searching for our stuff? They are headed back over here." I pointed
to them in the distance.
Charlie walked over to them without answering me.
"Come on Mommy." Liga called out as he followed Charlie.
I was about to follow them when I looked behind me and seen the woman who had helped me earlier.
She stood in the parking lot, a few feet away. Maybe, this would be my chance to thank her. I walked
towards her. She stood behind a black metal podium. A large book lay on the podium. It's pages gently
fluttered in the breeze. I couldn't help but stand and watch in awe. The woman's head was tilted back as
she gazed up at the sky. She seemed to be praying. I stood quietly not wanting to interrupt the moment.
She stood there for several moments before she gathered her things and headed off in the direction of
an old mangled van. She opened the van's side door and put her things into the van before she went and
got into the driver's seat. I wanted to go over and thank her but my feet refused to move. I watched as
she drove away, blending into the line of other traffic. I started to walk back in Charlie's direction where
a taxi car now waited by the curb. Liga was already inside the car while Charlie stood staring at me in a
state of confusion. I climbed into the car without speaking a word. Charlie slid in bedside me and gave
the airport's address to the cabbie.
"I hope you don't mind listening to some oldies rock." The cabbie said after he'd plugged the address
into his gps.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the seat. The cold air coming from the air vents
couldn't have been more welcomed than it was at that moment. Everyone sat quietly as they listened to
the radio and were caught up in their day dreams. I thought about the woman and her importance in my
day. Who was she? Where was she from? How had she carried me like she had? Many questions filled
my mind, all of which will forever be left a mystery.
We arrived at the airport about half an hour later. I stood outside with Liga and our bag of things.
Charlie went inside to see about renting another car while I stood outside with Liga and our bag of
things. He was gone about ten minutes when he came back, this time driving a jeep. He pulled over
beside us. Liga climbed into the backseat, while I carried the bag over and got into the car. We got
buckled up and soon were able to head back in the direction of the hotel.
"What a day it's been." Charlie said once we had pulled out onto the main highway.
"Tell me about it." I said as he draped his arm across the back of my seat.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before speaking. "I searched all over for that beach bag and
bucket but couldn't find either one. Liga and I had started on our way back to the car to meet you. Liga
saw a blue tailed lizard and decided to follow it." Charlie and Liga both laughed. "You know how
persistent our boy can be." He casts a glance into the rearview mirror. "The lizard did it's best to get
away from Liga. This continued for like oh, I don't know, it must have been somewhere close to ten
minutes before the lizard disappeared down a crack in the sidewalk. It was only then that Liga gave up.
We were both left breathless."
"Sounds about right." I laughed as a picture of it played out in my head.
"Liga and I sat down to wait." Charlie continued.
"That's when those people came." Liga chimed in not waiting for Charlie to finish the story. "Daddy told
them what had happened and then they gave us money and bought us treats."
"The people asked what had happened and I told them." Charlie corrected.
"How much money did they give you?" I asked.
Charlie paused as if not sure he should answer.
"How much?" I repeated. It wasn't important I just couldn't imagine it would be enough to pay for our
cab ride but where else could Charlie have got the money?
"A hundred dollars." Charlie answered as he placed his hand back onto the steering wheel and sat up
straighter in his seat.
I was astonished. The people hadn't known him yet they hadn't hesitated to help him. I had heard of
people doing these types of things but it had never happened until us. Was it possible we had been
blessed twice during our time of need? "It's funny because I felt at a total loss right before they
appeared. I had been sitting there pondering what to do next. I wanted to fix the situation but I hadn't
been sure how. I knew my help had to come from a higher power. I done something I hadn't done in
many years. I prayed. He pressed his lips together as his brow furrowed. The way it does only when he
ponders his deepest thoughts. "Then I heard a man's voice coming from beside me. You look troubled
he told me. He asked me if I minded telling him what was wrong. I told him of our situation. He asked if
there was any way he and his wife could help. I normally would've turned him down. I've never been big
on accepting help. I asked him if I could use his phone. I needed a phone book and his wife went and got
me one. She asked the people who worked in the food shack. She told them my story. They called the
police for us. The police came and wrote down my story. They said they will call if they find out anything.
They told me several people visiting the park this week, have had items stolen.
"The park should've put up a sign or something to warn people." I said.
"I guess they worry that they will lose money if they do." Charlie said. "Anyways, when the couple asked
if there was anything they could do to help me, it was as if I wasn't myself for a moment. It was as if I
had been lost in the desert for hours and they had just offered me a drink of water. I couldn't accept
quickly enough." He wiped a hand across his brow. "Look at me I'm sweating like an ice cube on a
summer day."
It was cool in the jeep but if somebody had seen him they would've probably thought different. I shared
with him the story about the mysterious woman who had helped me. I told him about how I screamed
for help but wasn't sure anybody would hear me. Warmth spread within me as I spoke of the event. The
stories Charlie and I shared were different but still very much the same. It was obvious to us; the grace
of God had touched both of our lives that day.
The days have continued on. We are now home in Kentucky. All of our items have been replaced except
for the shells we found. We lost a lot of items that day our stuff was taken but what my family and I
found is much more important and it will stay with us for a lifetime. It's restored our faith and taught us
not to be afraid to ask for help. Sometimes our weakest moments are God's way of teaching us some of
life's greatest lessons, all we have to do is ask.