She sighed, closing her book, resigning herself to the fact that this day had been a lost cause from the moment they arrived. And then it happened. The boy came charging back from the shoreline once again, his bucket full to the point of spilling, water glinting in the sunlight.
This time, he barreled straight toward his mother but didn’t see the edge of her beach towel. His foot caught, sending him lurching forward. The bucket’s contents, a full wave of seawater and clumps of gritty sand, flew in a perfect arc before crashing down onto the open laptop in his mother’s lap.