101 Healing Stories for Kids and Teens

He loved the comforting warmth of the summer sun on his skin, though he was old enough to
know, without being told, to cover up, put on a hat, and apply sunscreen so the sun didn’t burn his
skin a painful red. Wow, what a feeling as he ran down the beach and jumped into the cool, salty wa-
ter! He would lie on his back and float without a care, as though some loving hands were supporting
him. Floating in the sea felt so much easier and freer than when he’d tried it at the swimming pool
where he went with his school for swimming lessons. At the end of the day, the cooling sea breeze
turned his skin goose-bumpy.
He enjoyed all the differing sounds that he never heard at home. That first night sleeping at the
beach house was always special. It was so wonderful to drift off to the sound of the waves lapping the
beach, especially when you never quite knew just what mood they might be in. Sometimes they
would be crashing, strong, and powerful, while at other times they were gentle and relaxed—a sooth-
ing, swishing sound across the sand. Sometimes they were regular, wave after wave, and at others they
would be chaotic and confused. Sandy lay in bed playing a game of matching his breathing to the
waves. It was often the last thing he remembered before awakening in the morning to the comical
squawking and squabbling sounds of the seagulls fighting over a scrap of leftover food.
As they drove to the beach house, he would roll down his car window, waiting for that first salty
smell of the sea. Often he could smell it in the air before they’d crossed the scrubby sand dunes and
got their first glimpse of the water.
Early in the morning, Sandy explored what the high tide had washed up on the shore. He might
find sun-bleached cuttlefish shells, a colorful starfish, or knotty bits of driftwood covered in weird-
shaped barnacles. One vacation, he found the large, round, greenish shell of a turtle’s back. In the
clear, shallow rock pools were smooth pebbles, scurrying crabs, and tiny, darting fish. He imagined
that the twisting white foam left behind by the waves was a bubbly serpent. In bunches of brown,
slimy seaweed, he might find little seaweed balls that he could pop between his fingers. Sandy felt at
home on the sands of the beach, and I guess that’s why he thought it was from there that his name
really originated.

STORY 42

HEIGHTENING PLEASURE: A TEEN STORY

Therapeutic Characteristics

Problems Addressed

■ A need to increase pleasurable experiences

■ A need to heighten sensory awareness and enjoyment

Resources Developed

■ Focusing on sensory pleasures

■ Appreciating the five senses:

Sight

Sound

Smell

MANAGING EMOTIONS

Managing Emotions 123