A Child's View

We went to the beach, but it was different. The sand was black and sticky. The smell made my eyes water and my throat burn. I wanted to go home, but then I saw him. At first I thought he was just a rock - a big, black, sticky, smelly rock. But then he shivered. I showed my mom. She gasped. "That's a seal" she told me. I think she was crying. We fetched my red wagon. The seal was very heavy. Mom said be careful, he might bite! But the seal was too tired and sick to lift his head. We took him to the Sea Life center. We made a strange parade; A mother, a kid and a filthy red wagon. The lady inside looked tired. Her sweater was crumpled and her blouse was buttoned wrong. She used warm water and dish soap to clean him. She said he was covered in oil. It would take a very long time to make him better. Every day I came back to visit. At first he was too sick to notice me. When he breathed it made a barking, rasping sound. The lady said the oil had burned his lungs. Slowly he began to look more like a seal and less like a dirty rock. One day I came and he was swimming in a small pool. I asked the lady if we would take him back to the sea now - I had my little red wagon. She looked sad and shook her head. He could never go home.