Personally, Mary didn’t think this was the best idea the school had ever had.
Trying to keep a gaggle of children from wandering off while juggling a small contingent of chaperones, all while trying desperately not to get near the ocean, and to keep the sands out of her shorts. This wasn’t one of her most favorite field trips. In fact, it was her least favorite. Mary hated the ocean. The school field trip was at the ocean. Sans, she hated the field trip. She was currently sulking beneath an umbrella on the beach as the ten or so chaperones (She thanked Yepha for so many; most were parents and watched their own kids, and all the others at the same time. It meant her job was easier) supervised the hoard of children. "Ugh,” she grumped, slathering on another layer of sunscreen and hoping to high heaven she didn’t come away as a burnt cookie. Thank goodness for the umbrella. And her robe. And the sunscreen. And the blanket. Oh, and the towel. She looked like a giant beach hermit. And she was quite happy to stay that way.
“Stupid sun…stupid ocean,” she grumped, and reflected that she wasn’t being very ‘teacherly.’ As an elementary school teacher, it was her job to provide ‘fun and entertainment’ for her gaggle of kids on the field trips, but right now, she just wanted a good soak in a warm bath. A warm bath that didn’t have sharks. Or icky fish. Or jellyfish. Or nasty slimy things that wanted to eat her. She shuddered in revulsion; ever since she’d been little, she’d had a huge aversion to the ocean. It probably stemmed from the time a fish swam around her foot and touched her skin. Ew. She shuddered again just at the thought of it. It probably wasn’t that bad of an experience, or enough to make someone hate the ocean, but she’d been very little, and it had been very traumatizing. “Miss Mary, Miss Mary!” Mary was startled out of her thoughts with a jolt, and turned to regard one of her students under the brim of her large sunhat and from behind her glasses. “Miss Mary! Over there, on the dock!” She pointed to the dock down the beach. “My shoe floated away, miss Mary! Can you get it for me?”
Mary stared incredulously at her student, though the look on her face was hidden. “Uh…uh…” she began, before the look on the little girls’ face forced her to relent. “Of course, dear. I’ll get it back for you.” As the girl cheered, Mary unbundled herself from her cocoon of safety, and threw her sunglasses down, opting to keep the hat on. “I’ll be back soon,” she assured the girl, mentally grimacing as she marched down the beach in the sun, keeping a good distance from the ocean. When she reached the dock and stepped under it, however, she realized that the shoe was caught on one of the rafters near the edge of the water. Mary grimaced; how was she supposed to get that? Searching around her, she finally caught sight of a large piece of driftwood. Hefting it up, she marched back over to the rafted, and began prodding at the shoe, trying desperately to pick it off and get it back without touching the water. “Eeep!” she yelped every time the tide pushed a wave near her.