A Trip to the Beach

This is a personal essay that I wrote for english, but then decided to turn it into a one parter fic. Most of this is my experience, but I had to change some parts.

A Trip to the Beach

Sydney's POV

One of the distinguishing characteristics about the East Coast and especially Cape Cod is that it is brutally humid during the summer. In fact, it was so humid that when I went upstairs every morning and sat down on the couch it would be damp. Luckily, it usually cooled down enough at night so that we didn’t have to bear being eaten alive by mosquitoes just to stay cool. Also, the people we were renting from apparently hadn’t heard of air conditioning or something because it was just awful in the house. It was so stifling that we spent as little time as possible inside. So, to pass the time in moderate comfort we would trek out to the beach every day and jump in the icy water, dry off in the sun and go back in again. We would repeat this cycle for about five hours with a break for lunch and frequent sun block applications.

One night it hadn’t cooled off and I just couldn’t stand it anymore. We hadn’t gone to the beach that day because we decided to drive into Chatham and do some shopping for the day instead of our usual beach routine. Around 8 o’clock we had finished eating dinner and we sitting around the kitchen table talking. I was drenched in sweat even though I was wearing a tank top, shorts and flip flops. Suddenly I just interrupt and say, “Is it just me or are you dieing in here too?” He agrees that it is exceptionally hot.

“Why don’t we go down to the beach?” Vaughn suggests.

“Vaughn, do you realize that the second we step out the front down we are going to be eaten alive by mosquitoes?”

“Yah, but it’d be worth it just to get down there.”

“Yah, I guess you’re right. After all, we could just run. It’s only like a quarter mile or something.”

“Okay. I’m gonna go get my swim suit on. Meet you at your house in five minutes?”

“Sure.” I quickly get up from the table and head for the door. We are staying at separate houses to try to minimize danger, but it’s pretty useless because I’m sleeping over there anyway and most of my clothes are there. But, stupidly enough, I had forgotten to bring my swim suit over.

I firmly grab the door and run out the door, make a quick right. The wind is rushing against my face and I can hear my feet slapping against the pavement. I knew I shouldn’t have worn flip flops. You can’t run in them. Oh well.

I manage to get into my house with minimal bug bites. I throw off my flip flops and run up the step, narrow coarsely carpeted stairs to the bathroom. I stop in front of the bathroom door and prepare to do battle. The humidity makes the door expand in its frame, so it’s always a challenge to open it. I kick the door twice, turn the knob and pull. Ow, I shouldn’t have down that. Now my toes are throbbing, but I got the door open! I shut it lightly behind me so that I won’t get trapped in the bathroom like last time.

I open the shower door a little too forcefully and practically slip on all the sand left on the white tile floor from earlier beach excursions. I pull my swim suit off the faucet and shake the sand out of it. I put my swim suit on and pull my shorts back on over it. I grab one of the colorful beach towels off the rack and head back down the stairs. Vaughn pulls open the door.

“You ready?” he says.

“Yep. Here goes nothing,” I wrap my towel around myself and start sprinting down road after him in my flip flops, again. The pungent smell of salt starts to grow more intense as we run down the road in semi darkness. We round the corner onto the main road and can see the water gently rolling up to the shore.

We finally reach the beach and slow down so we can walk down the steep, splintery steps. When we get to the bottom I put down my towel and kick off my flip flops. This was definitely a good idea. It’s high tide, so we can’t go out to the sand bar, but that doesn’t matter because the bay is really rocky and you have to have shoes on or risk cutting the soles of your feet to pieces. I strip off my shorts and walk towards the waters edge and let my toes dig into the damp sand and inhale the salty breeze. One thing I’ve never understood is that although the bay isn’t salt water it still smells like the ocean, except nicer.

All of a sudden I am forcefully grabbed from behind and dragged into the cool water.

“Vaughn!” I yell. “You’re so mean!”

He laughs his deep laugh.

“What ever you do, don’t-” I start but before I can finish he jumps out sideways into the water taking me with him.
As I am submerged in the cool water, I feel so relieved and refreshed. I quickly come sputtering to the top trying to think of a way to get him back. He comes up laughing, like he’s the funniest person in the world. I try to be mad at him, but I can’t. I too burst out laughing.

I get up and wade closer to shore. I only get about a yard when I hear Vaughn lunging at me again. I try to run, but to no avail. He grabs one of my ankles and I fall back down again. Apparently running is not an option. I pop my head back up above the water and prepare to surrender and offer an alternative activity.

“Okay, okay. You win.” He smiles knowingly. “How ‘bout a race?”

“Syd, you know you’ll lose.”

“Yah, well, maybe if you give me a head start…”

“I’ll still catch you.”

“No you won’t,” I say defiantly, but I admit to myself that even though I used to be able to out run him, it would not
work this time for I’d already tried and had lost miserably.

“Okay, whatever you say. I’ll give you a ten foot head start.”

“Fifteen.”

“Fine.”

We walk in the water for about ten yards with our knees mostly bent so that only our heads will be above water. I turn around and he continues going for another fifteen feet. We head about five feet back towards the shore so that the water would be about knee deep if we were standing. But for him, it’s really more like mid calf because he’s a lot taller than me.

The way we race is we go down in the water and support and propel ourselves with our arms. Essentially, it’s like wheelbarrow without the person holding your feet up in the back.

“Ready?” I say.

“Yah.”

“On your mark get set go.” And we’re off. I quickly start running with my hands against the sandy bottom. This is not a very efficient way of racing, but that’s the way we do it.

Just as predicted, I can hear Vaguhn getting closer and closer. “I’m gonna get you,” he yells.
I try to go faster, but I’m already going at top speed which apparently isn’t fast enough. He easily catches me by grabbing onto my foot. I continue for another few feet try to drag him behind me, but he’s too heavy and he forces me to a stop and I flip over onto my back and sit up, my shoulder a few inches out of the water.

“Told ya, I’d get you,” he laughs, his green eyes sparkling.

“Ya well…”I trail off. “You’ve got sand in your hair.”

“No kidding,” he says. He starts rubbing his sandy brown hair with his hand trying to get the sand out. I dunk my hair in the water to get it back to a more normal state and wring it out so that I can try to comb the sand out of it with my fingers.

“I surprised that you didn’t throw sand at me or something when I got back up.”

“Well, I thought about it and figured that you’d probably kill me it you got a big glob of wet sand in your face.”

“Good call.”

I keep wringing out my hair. I flip my hair so that it is hanging over my face. And start combing it through with my fingers. All of a sudden I feel Vaughn’s fingers parting my hair away from my face and he leans in and kisses me.

“You’re so beautiful,” he breathes between kisses.

I smile and say, “Well, you’re the most perfect man in the world.”

I then feel his arms wrap around me and before I know it, he has me in his grip and is carrying me back out into deeper water again.

The End
 
aliasgirl000 said:
great kate! and give credit to Nick which it was originaly about (and you) not including the end...

we love nick! :smiley:
yah, this was mostly from my vacation with one of my family friends nicky. the end is made up.
 
LMAO I like it. Innovative. I WANT VAUGHN TO KISS ME TTOOOOO. Except he wouldn't if he EVER saw me in a bathing suit.

Same with me chick. any who! i love your story. it was so sweet and innocet. you are a talented writer!
 
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