the little girl and the shark

the waves were calm that morning and the air smelled like salt and sunshine a little girl named lila walked along the beach her toes sinking into the cool wet sand she loved how the water touched her feet then ran away again like it was playing a game ,but that morning she saw something strange near the water a dark shape lying still she moved closer and her heart started to beat faster it was a shark a small one hurt and barely moving its tail twitched weakly and its skin had long marks like it had fought too hard against the sea , Lila didn’t know what to do she just stood there staring her chest felt tight and heavy she wanted to help she really did but she didn’t know how and she couldn’t explain the feeling inside her it was like sadness and worry and something she couldn’t name all mixed together.

The shark blinked slowly and she felt like it was looking right at her like it was asking for help even though it couldn’t speak she whispered i’m sorry without thinking her voice almost broke but the waves were louder, the water began to rise again pulling the shark back out to sea and she watched it disappear until all that was left was the soft foam curling around her feet the beach felt too quiet then and she didn’t move for a long time, she didn’t understand why it hurt so much she just knew she wished she could’ve done something that sometimes caring for something you can’t save hurts more than anything else.