I thought I would try this writing meme, Prompt Number Thirty-Seven, from A Thousand Words, as—holy cow— I was inspired! It was also a test to see if I could actually finish something I started—a real challenge for me no matter the degree of inspiration. Yes, I’m one of those…dreamers.

I feel it might be a little too descriptive or wordy, but you be the judge, if you’d like. All critiques are welcome. Of course I don’t want you to come here and feel like you have to work, so you’re welcome to just read and hang out…

Photo property of kakisky

Would she ever again see that place called the beach? That place with sugary dirt that burned underfoot, yet felt cool as it stirred with the salty water and squished between her toes. Dressed in her handmade sun suit, she dug deeply into the sand with her plastic shovel, imagining she might reach the other side of the world, but her efforts filled quickly with a frothy mix of shells and crabby looking things. Not having a pair of those sunglasses, the ones with Donalds or Mickeys stuck on the corners of the frames, she squinted at the bright sun and soaked up its warmth, delighting in the breezes that brought the noises of water, hungry birds and happy people to her ears.

Her journey to this place started out in confusion. Seated in the back of the white Dodge Pioneer, but feeling left out from way back there, she hung over the armrest, wedging herself between the two adults. She asked where they were all going as they started over the drawbridge spanning the wide river. “We’re going to the beach,” said one of the adults. Beach? she thought to herself. What is a beach? Looking through the windshield, she saw up ahead the small tower from where the drawbridge is lifted, and she pointed to it and asked, “Is that a beach?”

She spent the rest of the day at the surf’s edge, absorbed in play with a little boy whose own family was laid out in the sand “next door.” Yes, she liked this place called the beach and she hoped to return.

Come autumn and the first day of school—her first day in this particular school—she was surprised to see that same boy from the beach, sitting in the back of her classroom. His name was Donnie, she learned. In summers to come, she would wait to see the beach again, but did not, but Donnie shared with her the rest of their school years and served as a happy reminder of her introduction to that place called the beach.