Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Summer (the season) (07/09/09)
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TITLE: A Time For Life | Previous Challenge Entry
By Bryan Gill
07/16/09 -
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If that adage crossed boundaries we were all adults. Although we wished to be children, we were mature now. There were four of us in all including my wife, her sister and my brother by marriage. It was his father’s death the cold winter blew into the New Year. The spring proved to be just as cruel for the rest of us. April showers brought May flowers indeed; however, the sisters placed them on their grandmother’s casket. For me, the solstice was the longest day of the year for reasons other than the sun’s distance. It was the day I preached my uncle’s funeral. With each of us mourning the nights of winter and spring, we longed for a bright summer day. We needed a day of independence: independence from things difficult to describe.
We reached the beach and inhaled the sunshine through the static hiss of salty air. The waves crashed into the emerald shores laying kelp at the feet of umbrella-speckled sands. Two kayakers returned from their adventure announcing they’d seen a shark nearby. In the distance a family of dolphins played and teased us with glimpses of their silver fins. We set up our umbrella. Soon after settling our seats in the sand the scent of coconut oil wafted around us. We were finally there. Wherever there was, we were there. And it was summer.
To our right a lady with cigarette in hand basted in the sun. Wind gusts crept the embers closer to her loose fingers grasping the filter. Her crisp tan made us wonder if she’d slept there since Memorial Day.
Three teenage girls passed by and ignored the four teenage guys they met en route. Once they reached a safe distance the girls giggled and looked over their shoulders to see if they were noticed. However, the guys fulfilled their urge to throw something. The innate desire of every male once his foot hits sand is to throw something: this instance called for a football.
A crying baby caught our attention. She stood before her mommy as tears streaked down her overly tanned face. Her mother’s shame revealed the reason for tears as she diverted attention from her daughter’s leg. There a recognizable sludge seeped out from her diaper and trickled down her chubby thighs. Quickly turning our heads and not wanting to know how the mother disposed of her daughter’s creation, we ocean-gazed.
A muscle-bound jock meandered along the shore trying to catch the eye of a bikinied beauty or at least a mirror. Forty and fifty-somethings acted like teenagers. Teenagers acted like college students. And college students acted sober. The feats people performed without spilling their can of courage amazed me.
A small boy stood and searched the crowd for any sign of familiarity. Down the beach a mother and grandmother ran to his rescue just before the orange-swimmied smile turned into panic. Not five minutes passed before another boy with the same come-and-find-me gaze stood before us. He too was found.
An adjacent family with young children apologized for the airborne sand and screams. Their kids played where the gentle waves met the loose white sand. Sand was harder there and better for building castles. When big brother demolished little sisters’ palace, I remembered that it is all fun and games until mama leaves her lounge chair.
Passer-bys looked the same. Jocks and geeks both looked alike. My brother-in-law and I were the only ones with hairy chests. Shaved chest, backwards hat, new tattoo, beer in hand, Hurley bathing suit and Costa Del Mar sunglasses decorated each restless beast searching for his beauty.
The day ended and we trekked towels, umbrellas and coolers back to the SUV. Parentless children pretending they were at a water park monopolized the outdoor showers. We changed in the gratified bathrooms unfit for slugs.
Later watched fireworks by the bay. Four airplanes performed aerial stunts seemingly just for us. The four antique planes drifting into the setting sun seemed symbolic as we watched with wide eyes and healing hearts. Gawking at the reds, greens, yellows and blues burst in the sky I realized that everyone is young again at the beach. That youthful spirit we found there was the spry dosage needed to overshadow the previous seasons of death. It was summer—a time for life.
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