the whale

i was staying at a spectacular 1930's seaside resort that rested on a massive rock jutting out into the water. my room was beautiful and after a late lunch on the patio i decided to walk and take in the beauty of my surroundings. all the railings on the paths were cast concrete sculpted to look like wood and under foot were native stones carefully matched and laid out by hand. the foliage was mature, canopied the path here and there and felt wild. i looked out onto the sea and felt bathed in blue. the surf was breaking in a crisp, cinematic manner and seabirds punctuated the sky like musical notes. as i watched the surf break, my eye caught a large streak of grey. i looked more closely and realized it was a whale being tossed toward the beach. i felt my heart start to pound as i ran toward the shore. i grabbed at my phone and tried to dial the correct agency but my mind was drawing a blank. as i drew nearer i could see that several strong men had already waded in to help the creature. with great effort they tried to keep her oriented so her blowhole was upright. as a foamy wave retracted we all saw a gaping wound on her head with brain matter falling out in little gelatinous clumps. almost in that same moment we saw her newborn calf struggling in the heaving surf. several of the men swam out and pulled her in. she was crying like any baby. we waited for help. the sadness was a boulder on us all.