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The Coolest Pair of Sunglasses

Fair Winds Challenge

By Kat NovePublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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Doug looked up from his paperwork as the bell above the door jingled. An old woman approached the counter, and like so many other visitors to the ranger station, she wore only a swimsuit and a floppy straw hat. Her feet were bare and the skin covering her scrawny frame had the leathery look of a lifelong sun worshipper. A brightly colored beach towel had partially escaped its confinement in the overstuffed book bag she carried. It dragged behind her on the tile floor, leaving a trail in the ever-present sand. The woman wore bifocals and the eyes behind the lenses were the faded green of a mid-summer lawn.

He smiled and asked, “May I help you, ma’am?”

“Have you seen a pair of sunglasses? They have green frames. My daughter thinks they make me look cool. She’s six years old, you know. She’s the reason I lost them. We were playing in the surf. Every time a wave would crash over us, she would jump into my arms. We'd both giggle and I’d put her down. Then we’d do it again when the next wave came along. Maybe you saw us playing our game. The last time she jumped into my arms, she accidentally knocked my sunglasses off my face. We both searched and searched, but couldn’t find them. It’s funny how fast the ocean can take something from you, isn’t it? She’s a beautiful little girl, and smart? I’ll tell you she’s smart. There’s nothing that child can’t do. Why one time…

The dumbfounded ranger, who had recently been transferred to the oceanfront state park, interrupted her monologue as he pulled out a box of battered glasses.

“You’re welcome to search through here, but I have to tell you ma’am, once the ocean gets hold of a pair of sunglasses, it doesn’t turn them loose until they’re as beat up as a prize fighter who waits too long to retire.”

“Oh, I know all about what the ocean can do, young man. I just want the frames back. I can get new lenses put in ‘em. The frames cost a lot of money and besides, my little girl thinks they’re the coolest. Did I tell you that?”

“Yes, you did, ma’am,” he politely replied.

She began rummaging in the box of battered glasses, picking each one up and examining it closely. The lenses were all scratched beyond repair, but she never wavered in her fruitless task. Kate, the other park ranger on duty, entered from the back room, briefly observed the situation, and sighed. She crooked a finger in Doug’s direction and he left the old woman to her search.

“I see you’ve met Annie,” she whispered in his ear.

“Yeah, she seems kinda batty,” he whispered back. “She keeps telling me her six-year-old daughter thinks a pair of missing sunglasses are cool. That woman has to be at least 80. No way she has a daughter that young.”

“She’ll leave in a minute. She always does. I’ll tell you her story then.”

Annie looked up and noticed Kate. Her radiant smile tugged at Doug’s heart as he realized that the cruel and relentless march of time had prevented him from seeing that she had once been a beautiful woman.

Kate smiled back and said, “Hello, Annie. Did you find your sunglasses?”

Annie gave a rueful shrug and replied, “Nope. But I know you’ll keep an eye out for ‘em, won’t you, Kate?”

“You bet I will,” Kate said. “This is Doug. He’s our newest ranger and I know he’ll be on the lookout for your sunglasses, too.”

Doug smiled and nodded in Annie’s direction.

“Well, then. No need for me to keep hanging around. I can see my sunglasses will be in good hands when they wash up on the beach. Thanks to the both of you. I have to go now, but I’ll be back for them soon. My daughter will be so happy to see me wearing them again. Poor little thing. She felt awfully guilty about knocking them into the ocean.”

“It was an accident, Annie. She couldn’t help what happened.”

Doug was astonished to see a single tear pool up in Annie’s left eye. It clung to her lower lashes for an instant, before slowly making its way down her wrinkled cheek.

“I know. It was an accident,” she whispered.

Annie turned and carefully made her way out the door and down the ramp leading to the parking lot. Doug and Kate followed her and watched as she leaned into a waiting car. She briefly spoke to the man behind the wheel, who had apparently been reading a book while he waited for her. She gave him a kiss on the top of his head, then continued her measured trek to the beach, moving with the dignity and caution inherent to one her age.

“Who’s the guy?” Doug asked.

“Her grandson. He started bringing her here to look for those sunglasses about ten years back. They come once a year on his mother’s birthday.”

“Why?”

“Annie’s daughter and son-in-law loved to go sailing. One day they went out, a storm blew in, and they never came back.”

“That’s terrible! When did this happen?”

“About twenty years ago, I think. The grandson was a grown man at the time. He told me Annie has never been able to accept her daughter’s death. For years she kept hoping she was still alive. Now I think she has made what peace she can.”

“How?”

“Look at her. She’s at a time and place where she and her daughter were happiest together.”

Doug's gaze turned to the beach. The setting sun had begun to dip itself in the boiling waters of the Pacific, the backdrop for a lone cruise ship. Annie spread her towel on the sand, and sat serenely staring out at the ocean, her lost daughter and the coolest pair of sunglasses.

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About the Creator

Kat Nove

I'm a native Texan who would rather pour a colony of fire ants down my ear canal than listen to country & western music. Willie Nelson is the exception to this rule.

My website is https://babblethenbite.com/

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