She of the Sea

11 of 53 - An Ungrateful Tourist

Cassie glanced at the clock sitting atop the display case of sponges. Almost noon. Her tutor, Miss Gracie, had been drilling her on vocabulary words. She enjoyed learning new words, but the sun was out, and Cassie was antsy to hit the beach. She looked forward to a long swim in the refreshing Gulf water.

"Come on, I know you remember this word," Miss Gracie said snapping Cassie from her thoughts of swimming. The word was ennui, and Miss Gracie expected her to use it in a sentence.

Cassie sighed. "I'm suffering from ennui and would really rather be on the beach."

Miss Gracie giggled, leaned closer, and spoke softly in a conspiratorial tone so Aunt Marnie wouldn't hear. "So would I."

"In that case, why don't we have our lessons on the sand from now on?"

"Nice try. It's difficult enough keeping your attention. Sitting among the myriad tourists would make teaching you impossible."

Myriad  had been yesterday's vocabulary word. Cassie liked Miss Gracie. She was young, in her twenties and had recently received her State of Florida teaching certificate. Due to the glut of teachers—glut  had also been one of her words—she had been unable to find a job. Uncle Milos knew her family and offered her the position of full-time tutor.

Miss Gracie glanced at the clock. "Close enough. Let's quit for today."

Cassie threw her arms in the air. "Yay!" She dashed to her room to change into her bathing suit.

Today would be special because Miss Gracie was staying to watch Cassie while she swam. Her aunt had some other business to tend to and would be gone for a while.

It didn't stop her aunt from preaching her daily lecture. "No more than an hour. You need to come in at one for lunch. No swimming out of sight of Miss Gracie and listen to whatever she tells you."

Cassie could recite the sermon by heart and hated that her aunt repeated it to her every day as if she was a little kid. She knew the rules, even though she didn't like them.

She and Miss Gracie rode the elevator to the lobby and walked out the back door onto the beach. The sun warmed her skin, but the steady breeze had her feeling comfortable. The beach was mobbed with tourists. A group of men standing at the back door eyed Miss Gracie, but she didn't seem to notice. Cassie figured she was used to it because she was pretty. She wondered if boys would ever look at her the way those men looked at Miss Gracie.

They had trouble finding a bare spot to set down their blanket and beach umbrella and took over a spot from a family who was leaving.

Miss Gracie sat on the blanket and pulled a bottle of sunscreen from her beach bag. She rubbed it on her exposed skin. "Do you want me to put some on you?"

"No, thanks, I don't burn easily."

Miss Gracie raised an eyebrow at her. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Don't stay in the sun too long. Let's not take chances."

"Can I get in the water now?"

"Yes, but stay close."

Cassie ran into the surf and dove into an oncoming wave. She held her breath and swam directly away from shore into deep water. Being underwater always made her feel calm and safe. It's where she felt happiest. When her lungs started to burn, she surfaced.

Miss Gracie was watching from her blanket under the big beach umbrella. She waved. Cassie waved back and plunged back into the deep. She swam down until touching the sandy bottom. Here she stopped and went still.