The original story is credited to Loren Eisley (1907-1977)
Below is my remixed version. Each time I tell it I change it a little bit.
The Starfish Story
An old man walks along a beach he lives nearby.
… the previous night, a storm came through.
And all along the beach, glittering in the morning sun, are starfish.
… drying out. dying. too far from the ocean for the tide to get them.
thousands, as far as he can see. Soundless death.
The old man stops. He’s seen many strange things on this beach.
Continuing … he’s careful to step over each one, feeling sadness with each step.
Anyway, after about an hour of careful walking, in the distance, he can make out a figure, … moving around erratically.
Getting closer it’s a girl.
… closer still, it’s a girl, throwing starfish back into the ocean.
… carefully picking up each one, giving it a toss, just a few feet back into the water.
The girl and the old man come closer, until they are within conversation distance of each other.
The old man, looks at the girl, astonished and irritated.
“What are you doing? You can’t possibly save them all, it doesn’t matter”
The girl smiling, looks up making eye contact. We hear a splash.
“… It mattered to that one!”
redirect: sitwithariadne.com/the-starfish-story
v1.2 - Last edit 23-Feb-2023
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