• Sweat slowly ran down my brow, as I fixed the sunglasses back onto my nose. The beach was rather quiet today. I loved it. This is what the world should always be like. Peaceful, and lacking of people. There was no better combination of things. So much time that I could just think, and do nothing; all with no one there to bother me! Ever since my wife died, I've lived like this. All until now. For the past twenty minutes, my eyes had been set on a most peculiar little girl playing in the sand. Where was the girl's parents? Had they not known this was a public beach, and to leave such an innocent little girl could lead to such things like kidnap, or even rape? What terrible parents. What a terrible world.

    I couldn't take it anymore. I rose slowly from where I had been lazing for most of the day. I approached the little girl with caution. I didn't want to scare her.

    "Excuse me, miss. Where are your parents?" I asked curiously.
    "I unno." She answered.
    "You don't know where they are? Are you saying you're here alone?" I continued, almost taken aback.
    She nodded.
    "You came to the beach alone today?"
    Again, she nodded.
    "Where do you live," I asked quickly, "I must take you home at once!"
    "I live on this planet." She responded.

    The hell? On this planet. Well yes… We all live on this planet. There are plenty of people here! Of course we live here! And damn them all! Damn them all to Hell! And screw her too!

    I returned to where I had be sitting before. I had removed my sunglasses, and replaced them with my actual glasses. I sat and watched puzzled. She was digging a hole. In fact, she had been digging a whole since I began watching. Why was she digging a hole? Looking for clams… Or whatever the kids do these days? Was she burying a body? Of course she wasn't. She's way too young to be a murderer. Or is she? Maybe her parents were murderers. Maybe they're murdering someone right now. Wouldn't surprise me. In this world we live in, anything is possible. What a terrible world.

    I continued to watch as the girl dug deeper, and deeper. She had reached the point with her hole that I could now just see the top of her head. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to go find out what she was doing. I walked towards her once again.

    "Little girl, mind explaining to me what you think you are doing?" I asked.
    "Diggin' a hole." She said simply.
    "I can see that… But why?"
    She shrugged."I was bored."
    "Therefore, you dig a hole?"
    A nod.
    "Well, carry on." I said turning to walk away.

    Seriously. A hole. A hole that will just be filled again when the tides come back in. This is the Maritimes for Christ sakes. The tides will surely be back in, and her hole will surely be filled back to the top! So why bother?! Why bother with anything? Such a pointless task. Much like everything else in the world. What a terrible world.

    ----

    I couldn't take it anymore. I had been watching her for almost three hours straight. I could no longer see her head. All I could see what now little shards of sand, and the occasional piece of a shell or glass fly from the hole. She came up every now and then, and grabbed some seaweed and covered the opening to the hole little by little. I quickly shot up for one final time. This was it. I was going to find out why the Hell she was digging this thing.

    "Now you hear me young lady! I demand you tell me why you are digging this hole right now! And then I demand you tell me where your parents are, so I may return you to them and then go back to my peace and quiet!" I growled.
    She stared. "Mister, why don't you come down here?"
    I shot her a confused look.
    "Go down there?" I asked.
    She nodded.
    "And why should I do that?"
    "I wanna show ya' something'". She said.

    I thought about it for a few minutes, and finally just agreed. I just wanted answers. Answers as to why this mysterious little girl was digging a hole. Answers as to why there were still wars being fought in some unknown countries. Answers to life. What a terrible world.

    As I crawled into the hole, she just stared at me with the biggest brown eyes I had ever seen in my life.

    "Ya see, Mister. To answer all your questions again: No. I don't know where my parents are. I don't know where they are because they abandoned me five years ago. Yes, I came to the beach alone. Who would I come with? I don't know where I live, so therefore I live on this planet. I am digging a hole, yes. And why? So I can have some type of shelter for the night's rain. That's why there is seaweed up there. That make sense?"
    I was dumbfounded.
    "No! No, that makes no sense what so ever! None! You're crazy kid! Absolutely crazy!"
    I rose out of the hole, and climbed out.

    That was it. I was done for the day. I packed up my things and headed for home. I would return tomorrow as per usual for a hopeful peaceful day.

    ----

    The hours seemed to pass like days. I laid in bed thinking about how harsh I had been to that little girl. What if she was telling the truth? It was pouring out! She could catch cold! She could die! Why would her parents do something like that?! If I saw her tomorrow, I would apologize. That was that. Poor little girl. What a terrible world.

    I returned to the beach the next morning as early as I could. I went back to my usual spot and looked over in the direction to where the hole had been the day before. Just as I had thought. The tide had washed it in, as if it had never been there. I frowned and set out my beach chair. As I was doing so, I found something. I found a beautiful shell with a note attached to it.

    To Mister,
    You looked really upset at me yesterday, and I'm really sorry for that. I didn't mean to make you mad. I want to say sorry, so take this shell. It's one of my most prized possessions.

    I couldn't believe it. A tear began to swell in my eye. What had I done? What had I caused. I had been so caught up in the terrors of this world, that I forgot to look at the those in other's. I felt like such a bad person, and I was. I deserved to feel how I did. I couldn't let this go undone. I began to scramble the beach looking for the little girl.

    After a good half hour of searching, I found her of course, digging a hole. I walked over to the hole.

    "Digging again, are we?"
    She looked up with shock, then looked back down.
    "Get out of that hole, miss." I said calmly.
    She obeyed, but kept her head down.
    "I believe this belongs to you?" I said presenting to her the conch.
    Her eyes glowed. Tears began to stream down her face as she nodded slowly.
    "Thank you, Mister." She sobbed.
    I got down onto one knee.
    "No, Missy. Thank you." I said as I pulled her in for a hug.

    She continued to cry for a solid twenty minutes. I held her, and cradled her. It had felt so nice after so many years. So many years of isolation, and loneliness. It all seemed slightly worth it now. I smiled, as a tear formed in my eye. I had learned so much today, and from such a young girl. How trivial! What kind of grown man learns from a kid? Me. I did. And I was now ready to accept it. What a wonderful world.