Laurel’s Dilemma

Laurel’s school year proceeds with the usual ups and downs. She is a good and responsible student who is always looking for the meaning in things. Like most young people, what her peers think about things matter to her. Her parents have asked her to think about how she wants to spend her summer. Their circumstances make it possible for them to offer her many options. She recognizes how fortunate that is. Her siblings have opted for camp and summer sports teams that will take them far from home.

As expected, the discussion of summer plans spills over to her friends. They regale the advantages of staying at home and doing all the “great” things that come with home comforts, wiz-bang technology, and each other. She knows that one option is to return to Cuttyhunk and the very differently paced life of the island. She still thinks about the charge to: See what others don’t see, learn what others don’t learn, and tread lightly on history. And she had warm feelings for her grandfather who she imagined would be lonelier without her.

But life at home with the high-tech lifestyle and all the choices that go with it are magnetic. She thinks about the reasoning that justifies staying at home.

• “Isn’t faster better than slower?”

• “How can decisions be made or arguments settled without a computer?”

• “Isn’t the best way to tell a story with a video?”

The answers seem obvious to Laurel, but she remembers that grandpa would answer differently. He would probably drag out that old, relentless prescription to ‘see what others don’t see, learn what others don’t learn, and tread lightly on history.’

She remembers her time there. It was different; never filled with non-stop fun and excitement. But it did teach her about some things that seemed special at the time. Not like school where lessons come at you with accelerating pace and often have connection to the world we are about to live in and will try to manage. It was different. Hard to know what meaning it might have.

The decision looms and Laurel’s peers are very powerful influencers. When Laurel mentions that she would be with her grandfather if she opts for Cuttyhunk, they pipe in with their own take on the elderly. “I couldn’t spend that much time with my grandparents. Think of the long stories they tell, the mushy food, the snail-like movements, the things they like to do … ish.”

“And the pills, and the places they like to go, and the music they listen to, and the movies they like.”

“There’s something about the smell, and what they think is fun.”

“And they can’t use the computer, need help all the time, and want us to do chores. Chores!”

Laurel recognizes some of these things and isn’t inclined to challenge her friends. She doesn’t quite embrace all those things as negative, but it is her decision and she decides to pass on Cuttyhunk this summer. She asks her Mom to phone and tell her grandpa. It is done and he is disappointed without revealing it.

A month later, Laurel’s “best friend” is told that her family is moving. They will depart when school is out and spend the summer in their new home in California. A couple of weeks later, Laurel’s older sister is diagnosed with ‘mono’ and will be staying home through the summer recovering. Her plans for summer camp are cancelled and the family vacation is also off. Laurel faces being home with her family all summer without her best friend. That prospect, in the eyes of a rather independent young woman, is enough to rethink her summer.

Cuttyhunk and the low-key mystery is rekindled in her thinking. Being away for the month of July is now looking pretty good. And the prospect of hearing about what happened to Alan, Chris and the crew is a bonus. School ends and summer begins. After a couple of weeks at home, she is ready to slip away to Cuttyhunk.

Laurel arrives on Cuttyhunk on a small launch at the end of June. It is warm and beautiful. The launch operator is a youngish, handsome boy of native-American heritage and as he docks announces, “delivering one passenger, the pretty Ms. Laurel Ledawt.” Her grandfather greets her but resists assuming that she is motivated to hear more of the story of the rebellion. He is tactically careful not to bring it up. Through the first day and into the second, Laurel notices – no long walk, no mention of the story. Finally, she says, “Whatever happened to Alan?”

Grandfather, “Oh, you mean the crew of the PYGG and their crazy adventure.”

Laurel, “Yeah.”

“Well, there is so very much more to tell. They are here. Right here on Cuttyhunk, getting ready to fight and risk everything. But there are lots of new characters in the story. If you want, and only if you want, we can start in with what happened next on our walk tomorrow.”

Laurel, “I’d like that. In fact, I’d like that very much. But tread lightly on history,” she said with a devilish smirk on her face.

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