Today was a good day. She found herself sitting in the sun, listening to the waves rolling in and slapping the beach before being pulled back out into the ocean to start the cycle all over. She wore a wide brimmed hat in order to prevent getting sunburned on her face and chest, and had a cute one piece striped bathing suit that was fashionable in the forties, but had recently come back into style. M.C. loved the pin-up look from the past. It didn’t seem to matter what body style someone had, the clothes, the makeup, the hair styles, all worked for everyone. You could be the best version of yourself while looking like you stepped off the side of a world war II airplane and no one would ever complain.
Adjusting herself in the beach chair, M.C. pulled her long athletic legs out of the sun and back into the shade of the umbrella that was standing behind her. Looking down the beach for Jim, she saw families playing, children building sandcastles, games of volleyball and football going on. It was an active day on the beach. She watched a particularly happy dog, a golden retriever, chase happily into the water after a frisbee, leaping over the incoming waves and snatching the floating disc before it could be swept to sea. The dog hopped happily back to shore, scattings a group of seagulls before it trotted back to its master to have the frisbee thrown again.
She scanned the crowd looking for Jim, he had gone into the water for a swim a while ago, but she couldn’t see him now. The air was not humid today, nor was it dry, but she had been in the sun all morning and was starting to want one of the alcohol infused slushies from one of the bars by the pier. Looking over everyone in the water again she didn’t see Jim and a tinge of anxiety began to blossom in her chest. Her eyes darted over the sand to the activity of all the moving people but did not see him anywhere.
A cold drop of water hit her shoulder and startled her, causing her to jump and turn her head. Standing just behind her was Jim, a cold red and orange slushie in his hand, just what she was craving. He handed it to her and kissed her cheek, his tough stubble brushing abrasively but comfortingly against her skin. She smiled to herself and looked over Jims tan torso. His body wasn’t built like a bodybuilder, but he was fit, with just the right amount of hair on his chest to look rugged and tough.
“How did you know that I wanted one of these?” She said giggling, taking a sip of her drink.
“It’s my job to know what you want, when you want it.” Jim smiled, flashing his white teeth in the sunlight. “All I want is to give you the best of life.”
She smiled bashfully at the man. He was more than she ever deserved.
“You do a wonderful job.” She smiled at him, fully believing her words. It was a good day to be sitting on the beach, enjoying a cold drink and knowing that she could look over her shoulder and see her home off in the distance. Jim lay next to her quietly soaking in the sun, his skin would tan and bronze, where she would turn red like a lobster, then her skin would peel for a week.
She looked back at the dog, hoping back in the water, leaping over the small waves to scavenge the frisbee, out of the water to the flock of seagulls and back to his owner. She looked over to the volleyball game where the teams were made up of two college aged guys and a girl on each side of the net. One team set up a spike and a black haired athletic man jumped in that air and hit the ball hard. The ball went in between two members of the other team before bouncing out and scoring a point. The men on the scoring team high fived and the girl, wearing a yellow two piece bikini jumped into the arms of the man that spiked it and kissed him.
Beyond the volleyball game two men were throwing a football, a skinny blond haired man in a white t-shirt and orange shorts made an impressive dive for the ball and caught it in spectacular fashion. Sand was thrown in the air as he landed hard, his arms outstretched, grasping the ball with the tips of his fingers.
The seagulls burst into the air as the dog ran back to his master, frisbee in his mouth. The ball smacked the sand as the man finished his spike and high-fived his friend. Yellow bikini girl jumped up and kissed him. Sand exploded from behind them as the man in the white t-shirt caught the football with his finger tips. She looked back, the dog was coming out of the water towards the seagulls, the players were setting up another spike, the throw was in the air for the man in the white t-shirt.
Splash. The dog was coming towards the birds again. She looked down at Jim, expecting to see his bronzed toned body. But his body was bloated and bluish, strands of seaweed clung desperately to his skin. He was smiling up at her, his teeth a yellow green hue, elongated and rotting. The sulfuric smell of rotting eggs, and decaying flowers floated up to her nostrils, and licked her nose teasing her with the smell.
“All I want is the best for you.” Jim said, but his voice was scratchy and harsh. The voice of an avid smoker with emphysema, speaking through a box pressed up to a hole in their throat. A groan crept from his throat like the sound of a squeaky door, a soft terrifying sound that quickly became the loud screech of a banshee. The scream broke off into silence and quickly resumed. Off, then on, gulls took flight. Screech, silence, volleyball spike. Screech, screech, screech! In the ocean, knee deep stood a man in all black, except for the small white square at his collar. It was a priest.
SCREECH SCREECH SCREECH! M.C. rolled over hurriedly and slammed her hand down on the alarm clock that was singing the song of its people. Frantically she looked around her room and saw that she was in bed, alone in the gloom of a foggy morning. Rain softly tapped on her bedroom window, a sure sign that today was not a good day to go to the beach.