Sleeping Seashore

The Dobbs had a crisis in their family. It was not their wealth. It wasn't the time of year, it was only 1906. It was their youngest child,  Mary Jane, Little May for short. She had become blind for the past month now. The family wasn't their usual self, either. Mr. Dobbs had stopped working, being the boss of a company. Mrs. Dobbs stayed in her room all the time crying loudly, because of her little girl's illness. The maids worked grouchily, though the work was never done.

The rest of the children tried to help, but with poor results. John the eldest, (16 years old), went to get himself a job. Sarah who was only 14, decided to help the maids work. Tom, age 10, always stayed by Little May's side to keep her company. 

But Little May, despite of her blindness, wasn't sad. She had been feeling happy, as if nothing had ever happened. Once, she begged for her family to have a family dinner. So, they did. "Why are you so happy?" her family asked her. "Isn't it foolish to waste the day crying?" she asked. "Well, no, not when you're sad." "Even though I can't see, I am still alive. I'm so glad I didn't die from being sick." The family were shocked she hadn't cried for weeks.

The family were still sad, but they decieded to take their minds off of it. An elderly woman, Mrs. Peters suggested a family vacation to the seashore. "It is only a day's journey away. I have a cottage there, you can use. Thank goodness you all are going in the summer. It gets so cold in the fall."

So it was planned. They packed up trunks of things and took a train to the Florida beach. Little May had brought her paint set, because she was a good painter. When they arrived, they unpacked and decided to rest. In the morning, Little May told them, "I'm going to paint a picture of the ocean."

She took off her shoes and for the first time, she felt the cool water. She smelled the salty air, and she felt the soft gooey sand between her toes. The wind blew her brown hair and she played in the ocean all day long. In the evening, her family wondered how she would ever paint again.

When she was sleeping she had a dream. In it, she was standing on the beach and she could see. But the ocean could not "see". The ocean was gray and black and ugly. She realized that if she could see, the ocean would be sleeping. "Wake up." she said. She, herself awoke. 

She raced to the window. "Wake up!" she shouted. "Sarah! Is the ocean sleeping?" "Sleeping?" "Yes, I cannot see, so is is the ocean awake?" "I don't understand." "The colors." "Oh, well, the ocean is blue and has a pretty green to it." her sister explained, perplexed. "Oh good! Mama! Papa! Everybody come here!" Everyone rushed in half-- awake. "I understand why I need to be blind, now." Little May said to her family pointing to the window. "Why?" Mr.Dobbs asked. "So that the seashore will always be awake." "That's what she told me, Papa. I still don't understand." Sarah commented.

"I had a dream. In it I was standing on the seashore, and I was no longer blind. I could see everything. But the ocean was all black and ugly. I realized that the beach was sleeping. I decided that for the ocean to awake, I would have to remain blind. I decided that's exactly what I wanted." she said. Even though it didn't quite make sense to Mr. Dobbs yet, he realized that seeing the seashore was a wonderful idea. He was glad that they came.

When the family returned back to the city, everyone was happy, no one was sad. When Little May became 16, she moved to the cottage Mrs.Peters had left for her, before she(Mrs.Peters) died. She sat their painting a picture of the ocean,thought about her dream when she was 7,and had tears in her eyes. On the bottom of her painting said:

Florida Seashore, may it forever be awake. ---Mary Jane Dobbs
                                                                         (Little May)

The End 

The seashore "awake".

The seashore "sleeping".