Elle jumped as she heard a crashing sound coming from above. She ran up the stairs and saw Uncle Axel picking himself off the floor in one of the rooms. Apparently, he had tripped over the edge of the carpet and dropped her suitcase to be able to use his hands to catch himself.

"Um, here's your room, Elle!" he said, his face red from embarrassment.

It was a small room but very cute. The bed had a wrought-iron headboard and a white fluffy comforter with a seashell pattern embroidered on it. The walls were lavender with white trim and there was a window that looked out towards the ocean with lacy curtains drawn over it. Elle decided it would stay that way.

After thanking Uncle Axel, he said would go make some dinner while she unpacked and settled in. "Maybe you'd want to explore the area before it gets dark, " he suggested, before leaving.

Not likely.

Elle sat on the edge of the bed and bounced a little to get the feel of it. Then she slid to the floor in a huff and buried her face into her arms. The house was nice and she expected to stay there most of the time, but Uncle Axel was dead-set on taking her on a boat. The dark waters would be all around her, deep and full of dangerous creatures. She shivered slightly, thinking of riptides and whirlpools. What if she claimed she couldn't swim? That wouldn't work. He'd just give her a life vest.

It didn't take long for Elle to get bored in her room. She decided to explore the house before dinner. Leaving her room, she walked down the narrow hallway, rattling the many doorknobs as she went. Many were locked. When one finally opened, she went in. It was a small room, maybe once a bedroom, filled with dusty boxes. Elle stepped carefully around the tall stacks. The light that came through the tiny window was gray and dim, creating dark corners that tiny monsters of the imagination could hide. She couldn't find a light switch so she grabbed a lone box and pulled it towards the window to see better. This first box was full of old plates and bowls. The second had dusty clothes that were tacky enough to belong to her grandparents. She found a box of comic books she assumed once Uncle Axel's, a record player, a Class of 1967 Yearbook, and a nest of cockroaches. That last one made her shriek and throw the box across the room.

And then she found the box of photographs. Some were of her grandparents when they were younger, family reunions, Baptisms, graduations. Several were of Axel and her mother when they were kids. They were amazing, like windows to the past. Elle spread them out on the floor, organizing them by the date scribbled in the back. She loved looking at these things, but it was a shame they weren't stored better. She wondered if there were any scrapbooks in the house she could slip them into. Elle was about to put the empty box aside when she caught sight of a small square photo at the bottom of the box, face down.

She pulled out an old Polaroid snapshot of two people. Kneeling on the floor, she studied it. Their faces were a bit hard to make out due to the bright flash that washed over them. Elle squinted, holding it up to the window.It was her mother, easily recognizable by here hair. She was much younger though, maybe her late twenties. She was standing at a bridge with her hand entwined with a man Elle had never seen before. He was tall and lean, with brown hair darker than Uncle Axel's. He was smiling at Margaret like he couldn't believe he was with her. Margaret was laughing at the camera as the wind blew her red hair across her face. Who was he?

"Elle?"

Elle let out a shriek and jumped so hard, she lost her balance. Falling forward, she was able to catch herself before smacking right into the floorboards. Luckily, she didn't crush the mysterious photo in the process. Uncle Axel was standing in the doorway with a confused expression on his face. He looked at all the photos spread around her, nearly thirty of them.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

Elle wasn't sure whether to be more embarrassed for nearly falling or for her little exploration. "Um, I was looking at the family photos I found. I think they could go somewhere better than a box. A scrapbook or in a frame."

"What, are you saying I neglect my photographs?" Axel joked. He came over and started to collect them back into a pile.

"They're yours?"

"Some of them," he explained. "I got a Polaroid camera for Christmas in high school so I was taking pictures of nearly everything I could see."

"So you took this one?" Elle handed him the one of her mother and the man. She suddenly felt scared when she saw all the blood drain out of his face. Her uncle stared at the photo as if it was a letter bomb. "What? What's wrong?"

He shook his head as if to clear it. Nothing, Ellie, nothing. Its just..." He took a deep breath. "I thought Margaret got rid of all of these. She never wanted to see these anymore."

"Why? Who is she with?"

Uncle Axel swallowed hard. "Um, that's not for me to say."

Elle scooted closer. She had to know. It was so close! "You can tell me. I promise I won't tell Mom! Please!" She was practically begging.

"I'm going to regret this," her uncle muttered to himself. He turned toward her and closed his eyes as if waiting for the blow. "He's your father. You happy now?"

Elle just gaped at him. The word father was foreign and familiar to her at the same time. He seemed present in her hatred of the sea, but absent in her life completely. To finally know he had a face, an existence, made it real yet so hard to grasp. Elle snatched back the picture and let her eyes roam over his image. "I can't believe it," she said. "Mom never told me anything. She refused! Who is he? What's his name?"

Uncle Axel stood up. "I'm not answering anymore questions about that man," he said, sounding rather annoyed. "Its a touchy subject so I'd think it best you asked your mom about him. She'd kill me for telling you."

Elle let out an irritated noise. "She won't tell me anything! If you know, you have to tell me!"

"I don't have to tell you anything," he uncle said, crossing his arms and heading for the door. "But I do have to tell you dinner is ready, so let's eat."

Elle decided an argument wouldn't get anywhere. As she followed him, she put the photo in her pocket. She would have to find answers elsewhere.

Over a plate of angel hair pasta with pesto sauce, Axel engaged Elle in a long, overly excited conversation about his boating tours and all the funny things that had happened to him while out at sea. Elle knew he was trying to get her to forget all about her father but it was all she could think about. In her mind she was placing together a plan on how to find out more.

After their plates were cleared and Uncle Axel's voice was hoarse, Elle excused herself to her room. Rain pounded the window and thunder shook the entire house. Huddling on her bed, she wondered if the whole house would fall of its stilts. Looking out, everything was black. The sea was invisible to her, but she could still hear it roaring as it crashed against itself and the rocks. Elle never understood why people liked it at all. One moment its calm and the next it acts like it wants to kill you.

Elle pulled out the photo and a flash of lightning lit up the image. "Wonder if you knew about the dangers of the sea," she said to it. "before it swallowed you up."

All in all, Elle couldn't sleep very well. Though the city was noisy at night with its horns, dogs, and occasionally gunshot, a storm had an entirely different sound to it. Being in a lone house with a practical typhoon swirling around her made Elle feel as if she'd be blown away like Dorothy, except she'd die instead of going to Oz. Why was realism so depressing?

Elle slouched down to breakfast, after hiding the photo in a book she'd brought. As if mocking her, Uncle Axel was whistling as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Morning people, she thought bitterly.

He laughed when he saw her tired eyes and messy hair. "Good morning, Elle!" he said. "I hope the storm wasn't too bad last night."

No, it was lovely ambiance.

Elle sat on the couch with her bowl of cold cereal balanced on her lap while Uncle Axel flipped through the morning news channels.

"Hey, Elle?" her uncle asked.

Elle grunted. She still wasn't ready to communicate with anyone yet.

"I'd like for you to do me a favor after you eat." He pointed out the window. "Could you take the path to the beach and check up on my boat? I pulled it out of the water before the storm hit so it should be okay, but I'd like you to make sure."

Elle wanted to say no, she really did. Walking on the beach would be a complete betrayal to her father's memory. But how could she? Uncle Axel was looking at her so hopefully.

"Okay."

"Great! Thanks!" he said, jumping up. "I gotta hop in the shower before I go into town so just put your stuff in the sink." He jogged out of the room, whistling a jovial tune.

Elle definitely took her time finishing her breakfast. Upstairs in her room, she didn't feel like dressing for the day yet so she pulled her thin bathrobe over her white cotton nightgown. Her mother liked to tease saying she looked like a girl from the early 1900s. Slipping on a pair of flats, she exited the house. Elle couldn't lie and say the boat was fine. What if her uncle went to get it and saw it was damaged? She might as well get it over with.

The sandy path to the beach was nearly hidden by the tall grasses that covered the entire area. Everything was damp and muddy and it took only seconds for the hem of her nightgown to get wet. Nothing was worse than being in damp clothes.

Elle walked apprehensively to the beach. It wasn't much to look at. The sand was gray and wet from the night before and seaweed and driftwood was scattered everywhere. Elle jumped back as the tide came in, sea foam mixing with sand. She quickly located her uncle's boat by a small dock that looked as if it was there for over a decade. The boat itself looked fine thought it would need a wash as it was coated in sand.

Satisfied, she was about to walk back when movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. At the other side of the beach, near where the cliffs met the sand, there was a shape moving behind a clump of tall grass. Elle cautiously walked toward it. Was it a beached sea animal? Her eyes widened as she realized it was a person lying in the sand.

"Hey!" she called, running as fast as she could. She nearly tripped over the hem of her nightgown. She regained her footing and saw it was a boy around her age. He was blinking his eyes like the sun hurt them or he didn't know where he was. His blond hair was filthy and so was his skin, as he didn't have a shirt. He jumped when he saw her running towards him. Elle slowed down when she noticed he genuinely looked frightened. He was hugging his arms around his legs like a young child.

She crouched a few feet away from him. "Who are you? she asked. The boy didn't answer as he stared at her with these bright green eyes, like he was seeing an alien. Elle noticed there was something dark in the sand around him. "You're hurt!" she exclaimed, realizing it was blood. He must have been in a boating accident or something. Elle jumped up and ran around the bush to see the injury better. That was a mistake as Elle saw something that she never wanted to see. She screeched and clapped her hands over her eyes. The boy let out a shrill squeaking in sound in surprise.

"Oh my God!" she cried, unable to stop herself."You're naked!" Elle had no idea how he reacted to this statement as she turned and ran back to her uncle's house. 

She wished all she saw was a perfectly undamaged boat.