This morning's prompt is 'blue whale'.

Stuff!

"I'm going to miss this falling down death trap of an old barn..." Brenda was looking through the nearly useless binoculars, held together with duct tape, west southwest where the river widened and met the sea. Half the town below had burned down when the only gas station had blown up during the early days according to Tom, so now there was a clear view of the ocean beyond.

"Why is that?" Ben asked absently, but she just handed him the broken things, so he got up to look for himself. He watched nothing for a few breaths, then as he was about to ask again, a whale breached, soaring completely and briefly out of the sea.

"Wow."

"Senseless beauty, spilling grace upon the world..."

"Hmm? Oh, definitely. And that was pretty good, by the way."

"I won't let it go to my head."

"Please do. We're all out of non-moldy bread just now, we can do with a little poetry, pretty please-" Ben had to clear the lump from his throat and started when Brenda wordlessly hugged him from behind, then relaxed. It felt good. There was grace and senseless beauty in the world, after all, and maybe a little courage and hope?