JULY 1, 1989 // WALKING TO THE BEACH WITH A BROKEN CHAIR

COROLLA, NC

A sullen boy, approximately age thirteen, attempts to walk to the ocean with his sister and cousin. His father video tapes from a deck above.  His grandfather, also on this deck, warns that the beach chair the boy is carrying is faulty, that he should leave it behind. The boy leaves the chair and shuffles toward the sand dune that obscures a view of the Atlantic Ocean.  The sister and cousin are asked gently by the father to wave.  The girls comply.  The grandfather taunts the boy to smile.  It is felt, probably, that he does not.