The beach

The beach was Originally Posted on October 23, 2009 by lavarock

Sometimes I see a view on TV and my mind starts to wander. I have been known to write short stories, though never published any. I don’t say they are any good, but certainly are a diversion of sorts.

Here is a snippet of something I just wrote.

Calling it a fence was quite a stretch. Wind would blow sand past it like water around a pier post. Rather than standing upright, many parts leaned back and forth and some parts would move with the relentless breeze. A lone seagull rode the wind, sometimes dipping towards the ocean waves to catch a fish. In the distance, just out of reach of the waves, a dead seagull lies on the beach. Soon, the tide will arrive to carry the body away. Carefully watching the waves, you could see the constant movement of flotsam slowly drifting towards the north.

The sounds cutting through the sound of the surf were unmistakably from a nearby boardwalk. From the beach you can see round telephone pole-like pilings rising to meet the horizontal, very weathered grayish boards crisscrossing between the beach and buildings. Some boards have obviously been replaced recently as they are blond and lack decades of trash, spilled drinks and gum which has been ground into the older wood.

There are a number of rides, each with their own musical themes and each offering an urgency of their own. The tilt-a-whirl spins passengers while a nearby car race offers thrills with exaggerated car noises. The smells of burning tires spreads from the ride and mixes with that from caramel popcorn.

Laughter and screams fill the air and to the uninitiated, it appears everyone is having a great night. That is all but the guy whose body rests under the boardwalk, dead as the bird on the beach.

As you can see, perhaps I watch a few too many C.S.I. shows