A fuxida do mar (‘The Disappearance of the Sea’)

Synopsis

Raquel lives in a house by the sea and she can see it from her bedroom window. Apart from being the place where she plays, her father goes out every night to fish and to return with a boat loaded with fish. One morning the sea disappears. For the small children it is a fascinating novelty, but the adults are sad and worried. Andre, an old sailor, tells Raquel what salmon do: they grow in rivers, travel to the sea and when they become adults they return to the river where they where born. That night whilst in bed, Raquel thinks that maybe the sea will return like the salmon do. When she wakes up, the sea is back! Raquel then feels a deep joy, the same joy that we all feel when someone we love one day leaves and then comes back home.