The Giant Seashell

The blazing hot sun, torturous scolding sand and the sound of dangerously aggressive waves slamming into the rock walls a sound so eerie it could be the beginning of a horror movie. However , it is not a movie it is one little girl’s chilling everyday life.

Molly is a nine year old little girl who currently resides with her six year old brother Max and their mother Jessica, they all live in the family car on the remote part of the beach . Three months ago , Jessica had to make a quick decision to get out of an abusive relationship with her boyfriend, and one morning while the boyfriend was at work , she packed the kids, and herself up and left. Jessica had to drive for days, leaving from the East cost heading all the way to the South West to make sure she had plenty of distance between her past ,and her hopeful new future , except now Jessica found herself with little money , no job, and not a place to live. The kids being so young she could not leave them alone so getting an interview was almost impossible, but she had to figure something out and soon.

The beach that made their temporary home gets unbearable during the day the sand burns your feet, and eyes while air is so thick it makes it hard to breath, and the large bronze 1974 Buick Caprice they live in has no longer a working air-conditioner and even if it did Jessica couldn't afford to keep the air on long. Max ,and Molly would spend most of the hottest parts of the day in the water , but at night the sand would cool enough to walk on the air that is so thick with hot suffocating humidity finally relaxes enough to enjoy the night so Molly would walk over to the rocks that headed out into the ocean and she would sit and watch the waves and look at the light casting over the ocean from the bright moon that brings a peaceful beautiful shimmer of hope for her, as she watches the water hoping that her mom will be able to get them a home soon.

Molly envisions her family eating a nice hot meal, watching TV together and sleeping in a nice warm bed where her mom can tuck her and her brother in after reading them a bedtime story as she looks up at the moon , she makes a wish on the brightest star in the sky , as a tear runs down her cheek, Molly is really losing hope that things will change anytime soon.

Molly begins to say ,”Beautiful star that shines so bright I have a wish that I need granted tonight.” I wish that my mom can get enough money to get us a place to live with lots of food and soft beds for us to sleep in and if it’s not to much to ask nice clothes and shoes , so we do not have to smell anymore. Thank you, bright star, in the sky.

The next morning Molly woke up quick to see if her wish had already been granted but she and her brother were still in the car, however Jessica was gone. Molly asked Max if he knew where mom was , and he said she left early this morning to try to find work because our money is almost completely out so Molly went down to the water before it got to hot to walk on the sand to go look for seashells , that was her favorite thing to do while Max liked to look for sharks teeth and slimy dead things that wash up over night so he could chase Molly . Max found a goooy green slimy stick and started to chase Molly and just then Jessica called for the both of them to come back up to the car.

Kids, Jessica called, I have great news! I found a job working at the souvenir shop just right up the road, it doesn’t pay the greatest but I’m sure after a couple of months of saving we should be able to find a place to live also the manager told me that you two can stay in the back while I work my shift until I can find a sitter. Tomorrow we start our new job , Molly was especially excited Max not so much he liked being out on the beach all day collecting sharks’ teeth and finding his kind of treasures , but he couldn’t complain about going to work with him mom for he to had been dealing of a nice bed to sleep in , with hot food to eat so he did as his mother told him. Over the next few weeks, the kids were getting used to going to the shop and in fact they enjoyed going there were so many pretty seashells and lots of sharks’ teeth to look at. Molly liked helping her mom put the pretty shells into the baskets to be sold and Max liked looking at the shark jaws that came in and sometimes the jaws would be so large he like to stick his head in the mouth and pretend he was being eaten. Molly had a giant seashell that she admired that sat in the front window it was so colorful and big, her mom would say that, that seashell was a million-dollar shell for it was very expensive.

Molly wanted to see the inside of the shell so she had told Max that he could fit in the shell and turn it over so they both could be the first hermit crab people ever , Max liked that idea so he slowly climbed up on the shelf and leaned over the shell just enough that he could get his head inside , as he was doing this the shell was rocking back and fourth Jessica was in the back and didn’t notice that Max and Molly were playing around the giant shell until she heard a loud crashing sound and she ran out from the back to see the shell laying in pieces all over the floor. Molly, Max what did you do! Are you hurt? What where you thinking ? I do not have the money to pay for this! Mrs. Wade is going to fire me ! Jessica started to cry she had no idea what she was going to do now.

Max and Molly had no words as they looked at each other with regret , now all they could do was pick up all of the broken shell pieces and stuff out of their mothers way while they continued to clean up the mess. Suddenly something caught Max’s attention under the big part of the shell , it was a black book Max got Molly’s attention and she came over and grabbed the black book and opened it and to Molly’s surprise there was money in this book and she yelled to her mother to “come quick come ,see what we found .” “Molly yelled”, Jessica came over and saw all the money inside of this black book and she started to cry , and smile at the same time and she said , “Thank you God, thank you!” Molly asked her mom , “mom how much do you think is there?” Jessica still counting told her to hold on , and after a few minutes she looked up at Max and Molly in shock and said good lord there is Twenty thousand dollars here , in large bills, I cannot believe this as tears rolled down her reddened face.

Jessica immediately paid for the damaged shell , then made a few phone calls to go look at a few apartments so that she ,and the kids could go look at places after she got off work. After what seemed like an eternity but was only an hour Jessica’s shift was over , she and the kids left to go look at three different apartments that were available in the area ,and close to her work after the family picked a place to finally call home they all left to go shopping for clothes ,and then finally out to eat at a real restaurant for a celebration .

That night was finally their last night after all of these long months in the hot stuffy car , Jessica , Molly and Max were moving into the new apartment first thing in the morning into a beautiful fully furnished three-bedroom two bath apartment on the top floor that overlooks the beach they had been staying on all summer long.

That first night in the new apartment was so exciting for Molly , and Max as they were getting tucked into bed for the night, in their nice warm, soft beds. Molly asked her mom if she was happy and Jessica looked at her and said the happiest I have been in years.

Molly asked her mom to open her window so that she could hear the waves and Jessica let out a soft laugh and said ," I thought you hated the sound of the eerie waves crashing against the rocks at night?" Molly, answered it's not so scary from way up here now. Jessica smiled, and left her room . Molly looked out her window , and watched the waves like she did every night and took a piece of shell out of her pants that shell piece was from the Giant shell they had broke in the shop and she placed it on her window ledge and looked up at the beautiful sky with all the bright shinning stars above that she had once wished on a few months earlier. she smiled and thanked the brightest star in the sky for making her wish come true and even better then she could have ever hoped. As Molly lay there in her bed listing to the waves and thinking about the great things to come she slowly drifted to sleep with no worries.