Is there such a thing as happily ever after?

This is Part III in the baby seal saga.  Start at the beginning by clicking here.

We have spent most of the day avoiding the beach that we’re spending so much money to stay on.

Avoiding the subject of the baby seal.

Trying not to look at it.

Nerves are frayed.  Everyone is on edge.  No one wants this to be happening.  And yet it is happening.

Then, just around noon, we hear a shout from the beach.

“THE BABY SEAL IS GONE!”

I look at my sister, and she looks at me.  Our eyes mirror the same desperate question.  Can it be true?  After we’d given up all hope, did the mother seal actually come back?

We race to the beach, hearts pounding.

And it’s true.

The baby seal is gone. 

We embrace and do a jig of happy happiness.  “It’s really gone!” we shout, “the mother came back!”

From three houses down I notice a woman walk out on the porch, climb down the stairs, and determinedly make her way towards us.

She’s older with a ruddy face and a blond ponytail and a glass of white wine in one hand. 

“It’s on our beach now,” she announces.

We look at her incredulously. 

“The baby seal,” she continues, “it’s on our beach.”  She gestures behind her.

“Oh.”  My sister and I look at each other in disbelief.  My mother-in-law, who has joined us, peppers the neighbor lady with questions.

“This is HORRIBLE,” I whisper to my sister, “how in the world did the seal get down there?”

“Maybe the mother moved it,” she replies.  But neither of us believe it.

“Maybe it’s not the same seal,” I say.  “I read that there are a lot of seals that get left on beaches this time of year.  Maybe it’s a different one.”

Jay starts down the beach with CJ to have a look.  When he returns, he shakes his head at me and says, “yep.  It’s the same seal.”

“I wish she hadn’t told us,” I mutter to my mother-in-law as we wearily make our way home, “I’d rather be blissfully unaware.”

***
We have given up on the baby seal.

We avoid it.  We don’t talk about it.  We try not to THINK about it.  We’re just glad it’s not in our line of sight any more.

It’s our vacation, after all, and we can’t let the CIRCLE OF LIFE ruin it.

It’s evening and we’re sitting around a roaring fire that we’ve built on the beach.  Other than the pathetic little creature just down the way, it’s a glorious evening.

CJ is singing his version of “Row row row your boat.”

Row row row your boat
gently down the stream
ha ha fooled you
I’m a submarine!

“Look!” dad points out into the water, “It’s a SEAL!  There, in the water!”

I leap to my feet and run to the water’s edge.  Sure enough there in the glassy water I see the unmistakable shape of a dark head bobbing along.

It vanishes as the seal dives under.

“THE MOTHER SEAL!” my sister shouts, “She’s coming back for the BABY!”

And she begins to weep real tears of happiness.

“I am just so HAPPY,” she sobs.

Dad runs down the beach where our neighbors are fishing, to warn them out of the way.  We wouldn’t want anything to stand in the way of this mother and child reunion.

They inform him that the mother seal already came back and the happy two-some are swimming just off the beach.

Jay runs up to the house to get the binoculars and we take turns peering through them. 

And there, before our eyes, we see both the mother AND the baby, frolicking in the waves.

CJ leans his head on my shoulder.  “Mommy, she came BACK!” he whispers happily.

So she did.

***
It just goes to show…

Sometimes things do turn out ok, in the end. 

Mother seals do come back.

And there IS such a thing as happily ever after.

THE END.

But actually it’s not the end.  Because SOME OF YOU have proven to me that you cannot be trusted with baby seals. 

And so,

THE ADDENDUM:

If you find a baby seal on the beach:

1. DO NOT TOUCH IT

2. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO BREASTFEED IT

3. DO NOT BRING IT INTO YOUR BATHTUB

4. DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT TRYING TO FEED IT

6. DO NOT DUMP WATER ON ITS HEAD

7. DON’T PET IT!

8. LEAVE IT ALONE

9. EVEN IF IT’S BEEN A REALLY, REALLY LONG TIME.

10. EVEN IF IT’S REALLY SUPER DUPER CUTE AND CUDDLY.

11. LEAVE IT ALONE!

12. AND DON’T GIVE UP HOPE!

The end.

(finally)

***
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xo Jen

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