The Boy and the Beach
Written by Hans Wilhelm, Illustrated by Hans Wilhelm,
Page 1
It all began many years ago on a cold and windy day in
December. The waves were beating against the shore
of the rocky coast of New England.
Page 2
Sarah was playing with her friends,
Punch and Polly. They were puppets.
Sarah wished she had a real friend
to play with. But there were no other
children nearby. She felt very lonely.
"I want to go out!" said Punch.
"I want to go to the beach."
Sarah thought that was a good idea.
Page 3
Sarah put on her
coat, took the
puppets and went
outside.
Page 4
The seagulls were screaming above her as she made
her way down to the shore. Usually Sarah liked to
play on the rocks. But today she didn't feel like it.
She sat down and pulled the coat closer around her.
The empty beach made her feel even more lonely than before.
Page 5
She no longer felt like playing with
Punch and Polly. With a stick, Sarah began
to draw pictures in the sand. First she drew
a picture of herself. Then very carefully
she drew another picture next to it.
Suddenly Sarah had an eerie feeling
somebody was watching her.
Page 6
"What a nice picture of you
and your friend," said a voice
next to her. With a jerk, Sarah
turned around and found herself
looking right into the face of a boy
she had never seen before.
Page 7
"Who are you?" she asked. The boy
didn't answer. He just smiled and said,
"Don't worry. It will turn out all right.
You will have a best friend very soon."
Sarah felt the blood rush to her face.
She turned away. "Oh really?" she said
angrily. "One thing is certain: It won't
be you. I don't like boys who like
to scare people." She waited for him
to speak.
Page 8
But when Sarah looked up, the boy was gone.
He was nowhere to be seen. Where could he
have gone so fast? Was he hiding behind the rocks?
"Hey! Come here!" Sarah cried. "Where are you?"
Sarah got up and searched the rocks. But she
didn't find the boy anywhere. What's more,
the only footprints in the sand were her own.
Did I imagine it all? Sarah wondered.
Neither the wind or the waves would give
her an answer.
Page 9
It was just before
Christmas when
Sarah saw the boy
for the second time.
Her parents had gone
out and she was
alone in the house,
putting on a puppet
show in the large
drawing room.
Suddenly he was
there, standing
behind the chairs.
Page 10
Sarah was stunned.
She had not seen
nor heard him enter.
"You must come with
me," he said. His
face was pale and
very serious. Sarah
was too surprised
to speak.
Page 11
"You must come with
me," the boy said
again."Bring your
puppets. I need
your help. Please."
Sarah started to
object but there
was something in
his voice that stopped her.
She knew she had to go
with him. She got her
coat, picked up her
puppets, and followed
the boy out
of the house.
Page 12
Silently, Sarah walked behind the stranger.
Where was he taking her? What was wrong with him?
Why didn't he wear a coat in this icy weather?
They walked for a long while.
Finally they arrived at an old rundown house.
The boy motioned Sarah to open the door.
Page 13
Inside Sarah could see
a woman sitting
beside a small bed.
She had been crying.
In the bed a girl seemed
to be asleep.
"Show her your puppets,"
the boy said.
He looked at Sarah
with such pleading
eyes that she stepped
closer to the bed.
Page 14
Sarah put the puppets on her hands. In the warm glow of the lamp they jumped to life.
"Hi! I'm Punch!"
"Hi! I'm Polly!"
Page 15
The little girl opened
her eyes and tried to
raise her head to
get a better view.
She began to smile,
and finally she even
laughed as the
puppets played one
joke after another.
Page 16
Seeing the little girl smiling and laughing brought more tears to the woman's eyes. She hugged and kissed her.
"Oh, my darling, your terrible fever is gone. Thank God. I was so worried. But now you will be well again. I know it."
Page 17
Then the woman
turned to Sarah.
"Who are you?
How did you get
here? How can we
ever thank you for
what you've done?"
"My name is Sarah.
And this boy
brought me here."
Page 18
Sarah turned around to look
for him. But nobody was there.
"A boy? What boy?" asked
the woman. "I don't understand.
We just moved to this town.
We don't know any boys here."
Sarah was confused.
Where had he gone again?
Page 19
"But there! That's him!" Sarah pointed
to a framed photograph on the table
next to the girl's bed. "That's the boy!"
"Him?" said the woman,
"You say he brought you here?"
"Yes he did. He made me
come with him and asked
me to bring my puppets, too."
Page 20
"Then it must be true,"
the woman said quietly.
"That sounds like Allan."
"His name is Allan?" asked
Sarah. "Who is he?"
And then the woman began
to tell the story of Allan.
Page 21
"It was about two years ago," said the woman.
"We lived in a village, a bit farther up the coast.
One day there was a terrible storm. Many people had
to leave their homes. But there are always some
who like to stay on the shore to watch the fierce waves."
Page 22
"That day one of them
was my son Allan.
He was an excellent
swimmer and loved
the ocean."
Page 23
"Two other boys were there, too, climbing on some rocks.
The waves were thundering around them,
splashing high in the air."
Page 24
"Suddenly the water subsided for a moment, only to form
one big, enormous wave. It was taller than a house.
With a roar, the wave came rushing toward the shore,
rolling over the two boys and crashing against
the seawall. When it was gone, only one boy
was left on the rocks."
Page 25
"The people on the shore could not believe what had happened.
They screamed and shouted, but nobody knew what to do.
Meanwhile, the boy who was washed over
was rapidly drifting out to sea."
Page 26
"Allan took off his
boots and jumped
into the cold water.
He swam toward
the boy, but the
strong current kept
pulling him away."
Page 27
"It seemed like hours before the boy
was finally saved. Another big wave came
and pushed him back to the shore. He was lucky."
"And Allan?" asked Sarah. "What happened to him?"
Page 28
"We searched for him everywhere," the woman said.
"But we never found him. He never came back."
The woman looked at the photograph again, and then
gently placed it back on the table.
Page 29
Sarah hoped she would see Allan again some day.
Often she went to the beach to look for him, but she never saw him.
After a while she began to visit the girl who was Allan's sister.
Her name was Angela. Soon they became best friends.
Sarah's wish had come true, just as Allan had predicted.
