Fish Around the Ray

Saira knelt on the damp beach and opened her sketchbook. Beneath the heading "A Beach Ray," she had drawn a ray with broad, diamond-shaped fins and a long tail. Now she wanted to make an enormous version in the sand. Using a stick, she carefully scratched an outline. She backed away to inspect each curve, then returned to smooth any bumps with her palm.

Her cousin Teo approached with his sandals in one hand. "Could I add some fish?" he asked. Saira pictured crooked lines crowding her smooth, empty sand. "I'm not finished," she said, although the ray already had two eyes and a tail. Teo hovered at the edge, one bare foot raised while he searched for a place to stand. Saira pointed him toward a patch of dry sand.

A gust sent her sketchbook pages fluttering. Teo hurried to catch it, and his heel landed beside the ray's left fin. Saira sighed at the deep mark. Teo stepped back. "Sorry. I could smooth it." Saira inspected the footprint. Its narrow heel and wider front almost formed a fish. She turned her stick sideways in her fingers. Perhaps the mark did not have to disappear.

"What if we give it a tail?" she asked. Teo crouched beside her and drew two short lines. Saira added a tiny eye. The footprint became a plump fish swimming beside the ray. "It needs a friend," Teo said. Saira was reluctant to hand over her stick; she still imagined a tangle of lines. But she passed it to him and watched him choose a spot.

Teo pressed another footprint into the sand, leaving plenty of space around the ray's delicate outline. Then he added fins. Two younger children stopped to watch. This time, Saira waved them closer. "Try making fish with your heels," she suggested. "Let's leave this space open so we can still see the ray." Soon, small fish were scattered around the larger creature like drifting leaves.

Saira noticed that Teo checked where the younger children stood before showing them how to make tails. He was being as careful with the drawing as she had been. When one child made a fish facing the opposite direction, Saira started to correct it. Then she paused. "That one is going exploring," she said. Teo grinned, and she drew a few bubbles beside its mouth.

Later, a thin sheet of seawater slid across the lowest fish. The tide would eventually smooth their whole picture. Saira opened her sketchbook and began a new drawing, this time including the little fish. Under it, she wrote the caption "A ray with room for company." She left several spaces blank. "You remember the fish on your side," she told Teo, offering him the pencil.