The green shrubbery rocked back and forth in the Atlantic wind. In the distance, the sea seemed tranquil. As Frank clutched his cup of warming tea, he thought that he saw something in the sea from the kitchen window.
“Is that a whale?” he asked the room.
“I doubt it, there’s never sightings around here,” replied someone from the couch.
“There it is again!” Frank exclaimed.
“Right, let’s have a look then.”
Mary put down her kindle, got up from the couch, and walked to Frank. He was standing agitated at the window.
“It’s a whale,” he said with excited certainty. “Has to be.”
Mary paused and watched the waves break in the middle of the sea, the blue intermittently giving way to flashes of white. “That’s not a whale, Frank. That’s the waves in the sea.”
Frank edged closer to the window, so close that his breath created another opaque barrier to his view. “Look there. There it is again! It’s a whale.”
“That’s a rock in the middle of the sea. The waves are breaking in the same place all the time. I’m sorry love, but that’s not a whale.” Mary sat down on the couch, picked up her kindle, and started to read again.
Frank stood a little longer by the window, staring beyond the green shrubbery. After a minute or two, he turned around. “You’re right, love. I see the waves and rock now.” He didn’t really see them though.
“It’s okay, love. You’ll see a whale soon enough,” she said as she raised her head and gave Frank a reassuring smile.
Frank sat down on a brown chair at the kitchen table and opened his laptop with a sigh of disappointment. His internet browser appeared with his last Google search – ‘What to expect after cataract surgery’.
© 2025 Barry W. Fitzgerald