Here is the correct order of events from the story:
- Ji and Asher go to the beach before dawn in parallel plot lines.
- Asher comes upon a hulking figure he runs toward because he thinks he knows what it is.
- Ji decides to walk the beach while the sun rises, and she finds the whale.
- Ji calls the Network for Stranded Marine Mammals while Asher pours water on the whale.
- The workers from the Network for Stranded Marine Mammals dig a trench where the whale can float.
- The workers from the Network for Stranded Marine Mammals pull the whale to the sea with a harness.