By Hannah Bottomy Voskuil
Gary drank single malt in the night, out on the porch that leaned toward the ocean. His mother, distracted, had shut off the floodlights and he did not protest against the dark.
Before that, his mother, Josey, tucked in her two shivering twelve-year-old granddaughters.
“I want you both to go swimming first thing tomorrow. Can’t have two seals like you afraid of the water.”
Before that, one of the girls held the hand of a wordless Filipino boy. His was the first hand she’d ever held. They were watching the paramedics lift the boy’s dead brother into an ambulance.
At this time, the other girl heaved over a toilet in the cabana.
Before that, the girl who would feel nauseated watched as the drowned boy’s hand slid off the stretcher and bounced along the porch rail. Nobody placed the hand back on the stretcher, and it bounced and dragged and bounced.
Before that, Gary saw the brown hair sink and resurface as the body bobbed. At first he mistook it for seaweed.
Before that, thirty-five people struggled out of the water at the Coast Guard’s command. A lifeguard shouted over Jet Ski motors about the increasing strength of the riptide.
Before that the thirty-five people, including Gary and the two girls, formed a human chain and trolled the waters for the body of a Filipino boy. The boy had gone under twenty minutes earlier and never come back up.
Before that, a lifeguard sprinted up the beach, shouting for volunteers. The two girls, resting lightly on their sandy bodyboards, stood up to help.
Before that, a Filipino boy pulled on the torpid lifeguard’s ankle and gestured desperately at the waves. My brother, he said.
Before that, it was a simple summer day.
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This makes me think of the beach house that my family rents sometimes, it has a porch and yard facing the ocean.
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Based on the author saying that the porch “leaned toward the ocean” makes me feel like this is primarily about the weather and ocean. When one leans towards something it is either because things generally revolve around that thing or they like the thing. The title is also “Currents”.
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I think, having read a little more into the story, that the story is going back to front, so the begining of the text is actually the end of the story.
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Tennis Player – God Lover – Instagram : Hayden__A
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I have two suspicions for this.
1) he didn’t;t want his mom to see that he was drinking alcohol
2) he was just enjoying it and not complaining because he saw how fast life can be taken away.P
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The girl seems very sympathetic. How did the boy die? No wonder why the grandma wants to quickly reverse the negative thoughts of the ocean in her grandkids minds.
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She probably has before like a parent or teacher but I think she is a bit young don’t you think to hold another persons hand at 12 years old. Those emotions aren’t real at that young age they don’t know/understand it fully or properly. C
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It’s possible that she doesn’t like be touched very much and she wanted to express sympathy for the boy. (A)
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Tennis Player – God Lover – Instagram : Hayden__A
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I think the girl is feeling nauseated because she saw the boy’s dead hand bouncing.
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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Cabana_
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I enjoy meteorology, hiking , and studying my Bible. :-)
I enjoy meteorology, hiking , and studying my Bible. :-)
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I enjoy meteorology, hiking , and studying my Bible. :-)
I enjoy meteorology, hiking , and studying my Bible. :-)
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The boy must have drowned.
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Tennis Player – God Lover – Instagram : Hayden__A
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I enjoy meteorology, hiking , and studying my Bible. :-)
I enjoy meteorology, hiking , and studying my Bible. :-)
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I enjoy meteorology, hiking , and studying my Bible. :-)
I enjoy meteorology, hiking , and studying my Bible. :-)
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I enjoy meteorology, hiking , and studying my Bible. :-)
I enjoy meteorology, hiking , and studying my Bible. :-)
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Tennis Player – God Lover – Instagram : Hayden__A
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I agree with you, people don’t realize how quick life can be taken away from them or even yourself. C
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This shows how a normal day can turn into something like this without people realizing it or thinking about what can happen.C
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If you read the story front to back then back to front then front to back again, it all makes more sense. The story line is more understandable P
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The final line was very impactful to me and shows how terrible things can happen so quickly on seemingly ordinary days. This story is about unexpected tragedy. ©
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The author does not use suspense at all, instead he tells you the ending and then works his way backwards, but it doesn’t have the opposite effect. It creates instead a feeling of dread making you wonder why did this happen. S
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