The boys rounded the corner first.

"Gran, hurry!" Rowan cried. His little brother, Levi, released an enthusiastic giggle.

"I'm coming!"

I placed a hand on the concrete wall of the restroom, an old memory resurfacing as I remembered the last time I'd used an outhouse. Camping trips were few and far-between nowadays. They just didn't have the enchantment they used to have. I'd give anything, however, to relive the experience.

"Gran!"

I pulled up my hood as I readied myself for the rugged ocean wind I so loved.

I glimpsed the boys first—running along the beach and laughing. They'd kicked off their shoes and Rowan was inching closer to the sea. I removed my sandals, stepping onto the sand.

An audible crunch met my ears and I winced as I delved my toes into the plasticsand.

"Gran, can we build a castle?" Rowan asked eagerly, bounding up to me.

"Yeah! Cathel!" Levi echoed.

I hid my revulsion at the beach's consistency. "I'm not so sure if that's a good idea," I said quietly.

"What's wrong?" the boys' father, my grandson Toby, inquired.

I gulped. "Memories."

"C'mon, Gran. Let's enjoy ourselves. It's not every day we make the trip out here."

I sighed. "I know."

He was right. It had been five years since we'd made the trip to the coast. Already, the beach had deteriorated. And it was as I feared—what was long ago rich, grainy sand was now littered with small bits of man-made material. It came to the point where people had started calling the sand 'plasticsand'.

"I miss it, too." Toby sniffed, scratching at his nose as he stared into the horizon. He couldn't miss it; he hadn't seen it like I had.

I had turned one-hundred-and-eighteen this year. I wasn't the oldest woman on the planet—not by far. Technology had grown exponentially in the last few hundred years. I had many more years left in me. But I had become depressed. Much of it had to do with the downfall of our natural world. I had borne witness to the rise of zoos—the last of Earth's wild animals were now imprisoned for all eternity. I'd watched humanity expand and expend.

And the oceans. Oh, the oceans.

I harboured a hope that deep within the great blue, there were still whales and dolphins. The tours did not spot them anymore. The scientists couldn't estimate how many were left. Perhaps they were hiding. I'd have hidden, too, if I were them.

"Gran! Wassiss?" little Levi called out.

I raised my head, eyes widening. He had picked up a small, purple object.

"Levi, put that back."

"What's that?" Rowan asked.

I smiled sadly. "It's a sand dollar."

"A dollar?" the boys cried in unison.

"A little sea creature. Put him back in the water so he can live."

With my guidance, Rowan and Levi waded into the sea and cleared a spot for the sand dollar—a spot devoid of plasticsand.