Descriptive Essay: The Man By Alice Clark

The Man

The salty wind sent Alice Clark’s hair rushing behind her as the boat pulled closer to the dock of the small land mass only minutes away. From her standing position leaning over the rail, she could see the figures of the few people who inhabited the remote place just off of the coast of Nova Scotia. It seemed they had all shown up to see the tourists getting off of the ferry—the visitors of the day.
The ferry came to a slow screechy halt at the end of the dock and Alice put the strap of her camera around her neck, ready to catch every snippet of the landscape of this beautifully untouched place. She looked over to see her mother and grandfather standing beside her.
“Look,” her grandfather laughed, pointing at a man standing over the bed of his truck, looking at the tourists expectantly. He was an older guy sporting a worn-out cowboy hat over his long shaggy grey hair.
“Now he’s a character,” Alice’s mother replied.
“Take his picture!” her
grandfather said almost in hysterics at that point.
“Now that’s not very nice at all!” her mother said, giving a disapproving glance towards her father, but he only continued to laugh.
Alice took the picture anyway. After all, she thought, you can’t capture the nature of a place without a picture of the people in the community!
As the family got off the boat, the woman in front of them accompanied by two enormous golden retrievers went rushing over to the strange man Alice had taken a picture of only moments before. The man looked as if he were about to hug her, but then dropped to the ground caressing the two dogs. He then proceeded to load the animals into the passenger seat of his truck, while the woman climbed into the bed of the vehicle. What a peculiar thing to do, Alice thought to herself.
The Clark family continued on with their day, completely forgetting about the obscure scene getting off of the ferry. Alice circled the island capturing every perfect moment with her camera. Alice and her sister hiked over the rocky beaches collecting oyster shells and singing old songs from when they were younger. After visiting gift shops and eating ice cream, the family left the island heading back towards their home on the mainland.
It was late when they arrived home and Alice went straight to bed; however, her mind was still racing with the memories of her wonderful day. She turned on her camera, scrolling through the pictures, when she finally got back to the image of the strange man. She wondered what had happened to him; they hadn’t seen him after the ferry. She wondered how he knew the woman, and why he seemed to prefer the dogs over her. The questions made her tired, and pulled her into a deep sleep.
Alice was awoken by the sound of the television the next morning.
She rose from her bed, quickly getting dressed and brushing her hair. She entered the kitchen where everyone was huddled closely around the television. “Good morning!” she stated happily, only to get yelled at to quiet down. “What’s happening?” she asked innocently.
“Look,” was the only thing her sister had to reply.
Staring at Alice through her television screen was a mugshot. The mugshot of the man she had taken the picture of the day before. “What?” Alice replied, completely stunned. No one answered. They all just stared astounded at the television.
“Greg Mortland, fifty-three, was arrested for the murder of his son-in-law early this morning,” the news reporter droned on. “Sources tell us while his daughter came to visit, the suspect had an argument with the deceased, who was shot several times.”
“Well, would you look at that,” Alice’s grandfather stated in shock.
All Alice could think was, It’s a good thing he didn’t see me take that
picture.