Last summer i took a trip to an island. I had a lot of fun. I sat and watched the waves and listened to the ocean. I learned to identify birds. I discovered pretty things and enjoyed the taste of new foods. It was a very nice time.
One evening I took a pleasant walk by the ocean. When the waves came in, many starfish fell on the beach. Some starfish went back into the water, and they were safe. But other starfish were still on the sand. They would die if they did not get into the water. There were many starfish on the beach that night. It made me sad, but I knew I could not fix the problem. I stepped very carefully so
I did not damage them. Then I saw a little girl. She was also sad about the starfish. She wanted to prevent all of them from dying. She asked me if I could perhaps help her.
"To be frank, I don't think we can do anything." I said.
The little girl started to cry. She sat back against a rock and thought for a while. Finally, the emotion was gone. She stopped crying and stood up. Then she picked up a starfish and threw it into the water.
"What are you doing?" I asked her. But she did not answer me. She just threw as many starfish as she could. "You cannot save all of them!" I said.
She stopped to look at me. "No, I cannot save them all," she replied. Then she picked up a very big starfish and said, "But I can save this one." And then she smiled and threw the starfish as far as she could into the ocean.
