Saving Stars

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHh9FhR_nTBOtd7JsXNR_zQKxA0J1jzi4oes_jmSWGMRg6iPJZgehukVhkOmbm7U_LqpAyi0NY0I0bSaY2qbnV3gIBWdeURqZVMj7Rk4cnKCv7yiYCzh3A_49OEommi3zpNsXRGcEOZx6I/s1600/Saving+Stars-pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1600" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHh9FhR_nTBOtd7JsXNR_zQKxA0J1jzi4oes_jmSWGMRg6iPJZgehukVhkOmbm7U_LqpAyi0NY0I0bSaY2qbnV3gIBWdeURqZVMj7Rk4cnKCv7yiYCzh3A_49OEommi3zpNsXRGcEOZx6I/s320/Saving+Stars-pic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Wow! That was some storm last night, Laura,” Kevin said as he kicked aside a broken piece of driftwood. He shielded his eyes against the bright sun.

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“Look at all of this junk that washed up on the beach.”</span><br /> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Laura bent down to pick up one half of a shiny clam shell. “I’ve never seen so much seaweed on land before,” she exclaimed. “There are shells, bottles, cork floats and driftwood everywhere.

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I feel as if I’m on a treasure hunt.”</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“A smelly treasure hunt,” Kevin commented. He wrinkled his nose. “There must be some dead fish up ahead.”</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Let’s climb over the rocks on the point and check out the cove,” Laura suggested.

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“Maybe we’ll find out where the smell is coming from.”</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Kevin and Laura picked their way around the objects on the beach. Wet sand crunched beneath their shoes. Beside them the blue-green ocean lapped gently at the shore as the tide continued to go out.

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Except for the mess on the beach, no one would have guessed that a huge summer storm had blown in and out just the night before.</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They climbed carefully over the rocks and rounded the bend into the hidden cove.</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Suddenly Laura stopped.

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“I can’t believe it!”</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“No wonder!” Kevin added. “Dead fish. Thousands of them!”</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Those aren’t fish,” Laura said. “They’re sea stars! And, there are so many of them. They must have washed up on shore during the storm.

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Without water, they’ll all die!”</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br /> <a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Kevin jumped off the last rock and ran down onto the beach. “Let’s go see.”</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Seeing the stranded sea stars up close was even worse than seeing them from far away. Up close, their sunbaked bodies were already beginning to dry up as they struggled to reach the ocean.

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Most of them were flung so far up on the beach that even a very high tide wouldn’t reach them.</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“This is awful!” Laura said. “I wish we could save them. I wish we had a tractor or a snowplow or something.”</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Kevin pointed up ahead.

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“Who is that up there?” he asked. “Do you see a boy near the far side of the cove?”</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Laura squinted against the glare of the sun. “I see him. But what’s he doing? He keeps running back and forth.”</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Maybe he’s exercising,” Kevin said.

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“I’m going to go find out.”</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They ran down the beach, taking care not to crush any of the unfortunate animals stuck high above the water line.</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Hi!” Laura called as they approached the boy.

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“What are you doing?”</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The boy bent to pick up a handful of sea stars and ran to the ocean’s edge.

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He placed them softly in a tide pool and ran back to the mass of stranded stars.</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“What does it look like I’m doing?” he asked, pausing only a second before reaching for another sea star and carrying it to the ocean’s edge.

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“I’m saving them.”</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Laura and Kevin looked at each other. They watched as the boy ran back and forth, intent on his purpose.

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Over and over he carried armloads of sea stars to the tide pools and deposited them safely in the shallow water.</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“What you’re doing seems kind of useless,” Kevin finally said.

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“There’s no way that you can save them all.”</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Look at how many there are,” Laura added, gesturing up and down the beach.</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The beach was littered in both directions with sea stars. The little boy knelt in the only clear patch of sand, the result of his frantic work.

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He picked up a five-legged star and stood up. He turned it over in his hand and watched its tiny tentacles wave in the air. The mouth hole in the center opened and closed, searching for water.</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The boy smiled.</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I know I can’t save them all,” he said.

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“But I can make a difference in the life of this one. This one depends on me.”</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Kevin reached down and picked up another sand-encrusted sea star.

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“If I put this one back in the water, it will live.”</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“This one will raise a family and help replace some of the sea stars that have died because of the storm,” Laura said as she picked up one of her own.</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The boy smiled again.

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“I know I’m only one person, but I can help in a small way.”</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I guess that even small contributions make a difference,” Kevin said.</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“There are a lot of sea stars to save,” the boy said. “I can only save a few.

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But, with your help, we could save a lot more.”</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Then what are we waiting for,” Kevin asked, scooping up as many sea stars as he could carry. “Let’s get to work.”</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(by Cindy Savage, ‘Brilliant Star, September-October 1994’)</span></div>

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