"Sophia, dear," William called after his daughter who raced down the stairs that led to the beach and dock, "are you sure it wasn't merely just a playful seal you saw?"

He followed after her, though his speed could hardly match her hurried and purposed strides.

"I'll find it!" Sophia yelled to whoever could hear, "I'll find proof I saw something!"

"Ooo, that Sophia!" grumbled Minnie as she bounced Horace in her arms. She, Albert, and Augusta remained at the top of the steps. "Is she just trying to get William's attention? How immature."

Albert sheepishly stepped by the two ladies. "I suppose I can go down and look around as well," he mumbled, though neither Augusta or Minnie could understand him clearly.

"Sophia is not the sort to imagine things for attention," Augusta answered sternly, "I am sure if she thinks she saw something it is sincere."

"A sealman, though?" Minnie retorted, "you can't truly believe she saw that. Whatever that even means. Like William said, she probably just saw a seal. Well, she better get used to that here, there's quite a lot of harbor seals in the ocean. Not worth screaming or all these dramatics."

"I am sure if Sophia thinks she saw something it is sincere," Augusta repeated.

There was a tense silence between the women for a few moments.

"Ugh, I can't believe she's making me come down there as well," whined Minnie. Incidentally, she did not like being away from William and her influence over him.

Augusta crossed her arms. "No one's making you go back down to the beach. That's your decision."

"What, you aren't coming?"

"Certainly not," Augusta huffed, "climbing those steps up from the beach once already was plenty exercise for me today. I came here to relax, not ascend or descend stairs-"

"-Then take him," Minnie exclaimed, shoving the baby Horace into the older woman's hands. "I'M going down. Tell him Mommy will be back soon if he wakes."

Augusta awkwardly held the infant in her arms. "Wait a minute, I never said I was willing to..." But she could see Minnie was already a good distance down the stairs. Augusta again let out a huff as she looked at the child now in her temporary care.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"William!" Minnie called to her husband, trying to hike her skirts as she raced after him, Albert, and Sophia. Sophia had marched the others over to the rock pile where she had last spotted the creature.

"It was here, father," she insisted, waving with her hands. Alas, if anything had been there, it no longer was.

"Sophia, I would guess it was a seal," William suggested, "that makes sense. Nothing to be worried about-"

"-it was not a seal!" Sophia was adamant.

"You said it looked like a seal but with human-like qualities. But doesn't mean it wasn't, say, a sick seal."

"Can sick seals run like a person on two legs, father?" Sophia was not accepting her William's explanation.

"I'm sure they can. Seems the most likely explanation in this case, my dear."

Sophia scanned the rocky beach and shore for anything that corroborated her story. Sadly, she came up empty-handed.

"I know what I saw, father," she stated, "and it was not a seal. It was a sealman."

"Sophia, what even is a sealman? You are sounding a bit...mad with your insistence that you saw something that was clearly a seal." William let out a long sigh. "Look, my dear, I know things have been tough for you recently with all these changes and it might have you a bit...on edge. Prone to imagining things. But this summer, all of us together, we're going to learn to get along and you'll lose some of that stress-"

"-so you don't believe me, father." Sophia's voice trembled. "I know what I saw and you don't believe me."

"My dear, I am certain you'll realize what you saw was a seal-"

"-Albert," Sophia said, turning to her non-biological cousin, "do you believe me? That I saw a sealman, not a seal?"

Now was his chance to prove himself a true supporter of hers, Albert nervously thought to himself as his face lit up with a shade of bright pink.

"Y-yes," he replied softly.

"Albert, you don't need to patronize her," William told his nephew, "she doesn't need to be encouraged to keep believing a lie. It was a seal, Sophia. Nothing more-"

"-William!" Minnie's shrill voice echoed from behind them. They turned to see her standing some distance away by a sandy section in the rocky shoreline.

"William!" she repeated, "look here! What are these marks?" There were odd flipper marks in the sand- surely, Minnie reasoned, it would confirm William's seal theory and put an end to Sophia's ridiculous charade.

But as the others walked over, Minnie could see the look of confusion to William as he investigated.

"I mean...these are like the flippers of a seal..." he said, "but yet somehow different. It must truly have been a sick seal you saw, Sophia."

But his daughter was no longer there. She had started off following the flipper trail, at least as far as it could be seen, and approached a collection more large rocks. As she stuck her head around the corner, the others heard Sophia's startled scream.

"Sophia!" cried Albert as he raced to catch up to her. Sophia, however, quickly ran back into sight from behind the rocks, though it appeared she had her eyes on something still there. The others did not have to wait long to see what. Soon too from behind the rocks emerged an older man, unfamiliar to all present.

"How do you do," he said in a polite yet unsettling tone, "welcome to Sharpy Island."