--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: beach. They were perfectly safe…" description: "\"“beach. They were perfectly safe. Michael’s head crested the dune again. Then his shoulders, the rump of his blue jeans, the short barrel of his machin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/196/alice-mcdermott-1961_computers_beach-they-were-perfectly-safe-michael-s_2031406.jpg" --- # beach. They were perfectly safe. Michael’s head crested… ![“beach. They were perfectly safe. Michael’s head crested the dune again. Then his shoulders, the rump of his blue jeans, the short barrel of his machine gun. He was crawling on his belly along the top of the dune, crushing the sea grass, filling his shirt and the pockets of his pants with sand. She…” quote by Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/196/alice-mcdermott-1961_computers_beach-they-were-perfectly-safe-michael-s_2031406.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/196/alice-mcdermott-1961_computers_beach-they-were-perfectly-safe-michael-s_2031406.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/196/alice-mcdermott-1961_computers_beach-they-were-perfectly-safe-michael-s_2031406.jpg) > ““beach. They were perfectly safe. Michael’s head crested the dune again. Then his shoulders, the rump of his blue jeans, the short barrel of his machine gun. He was crawling on his belly along the top of the dune, crushing the sea grass, filling his shirt and the pockets of his pants with sand. She would have to remember to shake him out before he got into the car.”” [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A tense scene where a man crawls through sand, risking exposure, while a woman must rescue him before he reaches a car. **In simple terms:** Man crawls in sand, needs rescue. Key Takeaway Plan safe exits in hazardous environments. Themes danger survival protective actions environment Mood tense urgent Type narrative descriptive When to use this quote - military operations - outdoor adventures - emergency rescues Key Concepts risk management human vulnerability protective instincts Questions to Reflect On - What precautions could prevent such risky behavior? - How does the setting heighten tension? A Different Perspective The focus on sand may distract from broader safety concerns. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beach/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Dune Crushing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dune-crushing-3733973/) [Machine gun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machine-gun/) [Pants Sand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pants-sand-3733974/) [Safe Michael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/safe-michael-3733972/) [Sand Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sand-remember-2737835/) ## Related quotes > [One day you will hear the sound of time rustling as it slips through your fingers like sand. Remember me then. I wish you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-lukyanenko/one-day-you-will-hear-the-sound-of-time-rustling-as-it-slips-through/) [Sergei Lukyanenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-lukyanenko/) > [“Hold me like you would grains of sand, and remember how it takes so little for me to slip through your fingers. I've been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dannika-dark/hold-me-like-you-would-grains-of-sand-and-remember-how-it-takes-so/) [Dannika Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dannika-dark/) > [“But Michael was out of sight. She waited. Were it not for the ballast of her big belly, she would casually stand, stretch a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/but-michael-was-out-of-sight-she-waited-were-it-not-for-the-ballast/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“He put his hand out to his daughter, pulled her up easily over the edge. And then bent to gather the shoes and toys,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/he-put-his-hand-out-to-his-daughter-pulled-her-up-easily-over-the/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“...Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He can recite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-palin/not-yet-dry-behind-the-ears-not-old-enough-to-buy-a-beer-but-old/) [Sarah Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-palin/) > [I noticed the bushes all around where I stood in my fight with the machine guns were all cut down. The bullets went over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-c-york/i-noticed-the-bushes-all-around-where-i-stood-in-my-fight-with-the/) [Alvin C. York](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-c-york/) > [No one I hang out with thinks that a random person on the street should be able to buy a machine gun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margo-price/no-one-i-hang-out-with-thinks-that-a-random-person-on-the-street/) [Margo Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margo-price/) > [If, for instance, you put in a Malay officer who's very religious and who has family ties in Malaysia in charge of a machine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-kuan-yew/if-for-instance-you-put-in-a-malay-officer-who-s-very-religious-and/) [Lee Kuan Yew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-kuan-yew/) > [Visually I've always liked the 20s 30s for film. I do these because I like the music. I like the clothes. I like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/visually-i-ve-always-liked-the-20s-30s-for-film-i-do-these-because-i/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [Esther be the one that shoots a machine gun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zz-top-21087/esther-be-the-one-that-shoots-a-machine-gun/) [ZZ Top](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zz-top-21087/) > [My mind's a machine gun, my body's the bullets and the audience is the target.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gg-allin/my-mind-s-a-machine-gun-my-body-s-the-bullets-and-the-audience-is-the/) [GG Allin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gg-allin/) > [“He hammered along, arms swinging by his sides. 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Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-w-s-anderson/) > [No matter how many people you kill, using a machine gun in battle is not a war crime because it does not cause unnecessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/no-matter-how-many-people-you-kill-using-a-machine-gun-in-battle-is/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) ## More by Alice McDermott > [“Some vestige of his race or of his sex made him think, whenever he looked out across the ocean: As it was before me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/some-vestige-of-his-race-or-of-his-sex-made-him-think-whenever-he/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“If you want to see how far we have not come from the cave and the woods, from the lonely and dangerous days of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/if-you-want-to-see-how-far-we-have-not-come-from-the-cave-and-the/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“John Keane pressed his chest to the steering wheel as he put the key in the ignition, taking a deep breath as he did,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/john-keane-pressed-his-chest-to-the-steering-wheel-as-he-put-the-key/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“The fourth contraction seized her and suddenly she was perspiring. 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Jacob was lying flat out now, on his stomach, his little men all before him,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/michael-had-slipped-beyond-the-crest-of-the-dune-jacob-was-lying-flat/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“The wind,” Mary said again. “It was making everyone tear up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/the-wind-mary-said-again-it-was-making-everyone-tear-up/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“Not a soul,” Mary Keane said to her husband, the wind lifting her words, tossing them gently back over her shoulder, the way it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/not-a-soul-mary-keane-said-to-her-husband-the-wind-lifting-her-words/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“There wasn’t a tear to be seen on the faces of the men and women in the street as the two of them walked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/there-wasn-t-a-tear-to-be-seen-on-the-faces-of-the-men-and-women-in/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“His love for his children bore down on his heart with the weight of three heavy stones. There were all his unnamed fears for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/his-love-for-his-children-bore-down-on-his-heart-with-the-weight-of/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“Mr. Persichetti knew that six weeks before its time and with a good thirty-minute ride to the hospital once the ambulance came (would it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/mr-persichetti-knew-that-six-weeks-before-its-time-and-with-a-good/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“Mike Shea became a medic during the war and was now married, working for Pfizer. To this day he can’t look at her straight.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/mike-shea-became-a-medic-during-the-war-and-was-now-married-working/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [As a writer, I'm too busy and worried to experience the delight while composing my own work, although, of course, I hope a reader…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/as-a-writer-i-m-too-busy-and-worried-to-experience-the-delight-while/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“Why not?” but without conviction, confirming for them both that this was a sudden impulse that most likely would not last out the afternoon.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/why-not-but-without-conviction-confirming-for-them-both-that-this-was/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) [Explore all 194 Alice McDermott quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) ## More Beach quotes > [I love being in Malibu. It's so cool there, and the water is just, it's nice and, and I love the beach. And I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-evancho/i-love-being-in-malibu-it-s-so-cool-there-and-the-water-is-just-it-s/) [Jackie Evancho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-evancho/) > [I love the sea, but I avoid any sort of seaside resort that has skyscrapers or seaside entertainments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-blake/i-love-the-sea-but-i-avoid-any-sort-of-seaside-resort-that-has/) [Quentin Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-blake/) > [“I’ve always seen this in you, ever since you were a little girl — this hunger to love other people into their highest selves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-elisabeth/i-ve-always-seen-this-in-you-ever-since-you-were-a-little-girl-this/) [Jennifer Elisabeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-elisabeth/) > [I've said many times before that Pebble Beach is a wonderful thinking-man's golf course. 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"The holiest sound on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/carolina-beach-music-dupree-said-coming-up-on-the-porch-the-holiest/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [I like trekking and staying in tents, meeting new people and eating good food.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tripti-dimri/i-like-trekking-and-staying-in-tents-meeting-new-people-and-eating/) [Tripti Dimri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tripti-dimri/) > [The biggest part of painting perhaps is faith, and waiting receptively, content to go any way, not planning or forcing. The fear, though, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-carr/the-biggest-part-of-painting-perhaps-is-faith-and-waiting-receptively/) [Emily Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-carr/) > [If I'm on holiday, I'm active on the beach, I play tennis, I run, I swim a lot. 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Michael’s head crested the dune again. Then his shoulders, the rump of his blue jeans, the short barrel of his machine gun. He was crawling on his belly along the top of the dune, crushing the sea grass, filling his shirt and the pockets of his pants with sand. 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