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This is a story about an insecure girl named Sara who lives in West Virginia with her aunt,
Willie, sister, Wanda, and brother, Charlie. Aunt Willie, a strict housekeeper, watches
over the kids alone because their mother died and their father left. And because Charlie
is mentally handicapped and mute, life for the family is a challenge.
Upon hearing that swans are residing in a nearby lake, Sara takes Charlie to the lake
to see the birds. He likes the swans, refusing to leave the lake, but then goes back home
with Sara when it gets dark.
That night, Charlie thinks he sees swans outside and walks to the lake to see the birds. However,
he gets lost and ends up in the forest.
The family discovers that Charlie is missing and they begin searching the area. After the
police are called, the entire town begins looking for him.
Sara and her friend, Mary, search for Charlie on their own and run into a boy named Joe,
who Sara accuses of stealing Charlie's watch. They find one of Charlie's slippers and Sara
and Joe search further into the woods.
In the end, Sara and Joe find Charlie and they all return home.
First, this story is about the acceptance of self. For the majority of the story, Sara
wishes that she were like others, like her sister or girls from school. She hates how
she looks and wishes she had better clothes. However, as she searches for Charlie, she
learns that people like her for who she is. That the person she is is exactly what people
like about her.
Ultimately, a lot Sara's low self-esteem comes from anger derived from unforgiveness. Throughout
the story, she expresses her dislike of her father, especially when Charlie gets lost.
She also is upset at Joe for stealing Charlie's watch, which she later finds out that he didn't
steal it at all.
By the end of the story, we know that she forgives Joe, but her relationship with her
father is a little unclear. They do talk a bit, which is a great improvement of their
relationship prior, but it still isn't fully healed. By the author leaving the relationship
in this status, it suggests that some healing takes time. That to restore a friendship,
or parental bond, may take months or years.
There is a great image that Sara describes in her mind about steps and that everyone
she knows is walking up these steps, but at different paces. And while the steps symbolize
life, the author notes that everyone is moving on these steps at a different pace and that
in life, we are all moving at our own pace. As Sara looks around and sees that her father
and Charlie are well below where she is, she begins to accept them for their current state
and develops a better understanding for others.