Even
before she opened her eyes she could feel the sun beating through the bedroom windows
and the temperature, in the little room was already rising fast. Ayden rolled over and looked at the clock on
the bedside table. It read 8:47. It was going to be unbearably hot again
today, just like every other day this summer since she and Meg had
arrived. Why had she agreed to this
summer adventure with Meg? But she knew
there was no way to tell Meg no once plans were made and it was their last
summer of freedom before their jobs started in the fall. It would be her one last chance to spend a
little time with Meg. Meg had been her
best friend growing up in their little hometown and they had been college
roommates all four years. They had
decided to rent the little beach house for the summer before Meg moved off
across the country to her new executive position with a Marketing firm whose
name was so long Ayden could never remember it.
They had been at the beach house a total of five hours when Meg had met
an over tanned surfer with a phony white smile.
Since then it seemed Meg was barely around the bungalow long enough to
change her clothes before heading off for another day at the beach with her
surfer, doing whatever it was that surfers did all day. She glanced over at Meg’s bed and the covers
were just as neat as the day they arrived.
Ayden wondered if Meg would ever even use the bed before summer was
over. Ayden stretched the kinks out of
her back and ran her fingers through her long brown hair. Meg had beautiful blond hair with just a hint
of a curl and all the boys at college had regularly fallen over themselves to
save her a seat at the football games, they all wanted to be near her and Ayden
could not blame them after all Meg was her best friend. Ayden lay there pondering why she was not
more adventurous and outgoing like Meg, but slowly rolled herself out of bed
and moved towards the bathroom and a nice cool shower to wake herself up.
She
smiled as she entered the bathroom. It
was almost too cliché even for the beach but at least it was cooler in
here. She and Meg had enjoyed a good
laugh when they first saw it with its light blue paint and lighthouse
tiles. There was even a string of sand
dollars hanging from the mirror like a long forgotten Christmas garland,
probably left over from some other tourists' vacation in the summers before
theirs. They had promised each other
they would look for sand dollars to add to it before they left in the
fall. Ayden reached up and gently ran
her finger over the rough edges and realized she missed having Meg around.
She
turned on the water and it sputtered and spit but eventually settled into a
steady stream of clear water. She slid
out of her bra and let her soft cotton panties drop to the floor and slowly stepped
out of them and into the water. It
danced across her skin and felt wonderfully cool as she closed her eyes and
dropped her head back into the stream, letting it pelt down on her face before
it raced over her body and down the drain, washing the summer’s heat away. She shampooed her hair twice before reaching
for the bar of soap. Meg always smelled
of lavender and Ayden rolled the bar over in her hands making it lather and
sniffed at the bar of soap smiling. She
thought as she let the bar slide across her stomach that, "Today she would
be the one smelling like the delicate flower on the beach". Slowly she led the bar in circles around her
breasts letting the water wash away the lather and leaving her skin feeling
soft and smooth. She guided the small
bar down her thighs washing over her calves and coming back up to gently lather
between her legs, before carefully shaving her legs and rinsing off. Turning off the water she reached for a towel
and found them both still wet and she knew that Meg had at least been there for
a few minutes this morning. She did her
best to dry her body off on the ends of the towels, with what little area left
that were not damp, before gathering everything up and depositing it all in the
hamper; vowing to do the laundry in the evening when it cooled off a bit.
Standing
before the mirror she swiped away the steam that had collected there and ran a
comb quickly through her hair before she pulled it up in a tight ponytail and
reached for the baby oil. She knew it is
a bit old fashioned and she would pay for the abuse to her skin when she was a
little older but she loved the way it felt against her skin. She rubbed just a bit over her skin stealing
glances at her naked body in the mirror as she did. The boys might save seats for blond haired
Meg, she thought, but Ayden had gotten a little attention in college too. She had two boyfriends over the course of the
four years and they had each enjoyed the small curves of her hips and the way
her breasts filled out the airy sundresses she so liked to wear. If she stayed the weekend she would borrow
his college sweat shirt to bundle up in during the cold mornings. She enjoyed those quiet Saturdays relaxing on
the couch reading a book snuggled up in his arms while he watched the game or
watching him as he enjoyed the breakfasts she would make. She absently massaged
in the last of the oil making her nipples harden slightly as she remembered the
musky smell of those soft sweat shirts against her skin and a sweet smile
spread across her face.
Once
again she caught her reflection in the mirror and it brought her back to
reality. Ayden grabbed the little blue
bikini, hanging on the rack and slipped it on.
She remembered how they had shopped for days before finding it. Meg had been so excited and promised it would
be perfect for the beach. As Ayden
passed through the bedroom, on her way to the kitchen, she snagged her old
familiar college T-shirt, which often substituted for a nightshirt. It was still lying on the end of the bed and
she threw it on, over her bikini. She
walked into the kitchen humming the old Beach Boys’ song, “Fun, Fun, Fun” but
got stuck on the chorus and could not remember the rest of the words. Seeing the pile of dishes in the sink she
guessed Meg had not come by alone and wondered how it was she had not woken
up. Ayden sighed, but a smile crept
across her face as she shook her head and picked up the bowl from the table
that was still half full of milk and had a few stray Cheerios still floating in
the white liquid, like little life preservers.
With the dishes rinsed and tucked into the dishwasher she went to the
refrigerator to see if there was anything left.
She located an apple and two peaches which would have to do for
breakfast and lunch. Once they were
washed she wrapped them to keep them cool, and tucked them deep inside of her
bag as she headed out the door to the beach.
The
beach was only half a block away and as soon as the door was closed she could
smell the cool salt water calling to her.
There were little tourist boutiques lining all of the streets along the
beach. They sold everything from snow
cones to tourist T-shirts proclaiming, “My grandma and grandpa went to the
beach and all I got was this silly tee.”
There were little cafes with small tables lined up in front and bars
that seemed quiet during the day, but drew large crowds at night. Ayden meant to explore a couple of the nicer
bars in the evenings but going alone did not seem as much fun as going there
with Meg. At the very corner, right
across the street from the beach access was even an old LP record shop that had
bongo drums hanging from the awning out front.
She wondered if the shop had been there since the 1960s.
The
beach was busy but not as crowded as it would get over the weekend and it was
still just late morning so she found a nice location and set up her towel. The sand was already getting warm and her
toes were burning from the walk over and getting everything set up so she
headed directly to the water’s edge to soak them in the cool surf. The roar of the waves filled her ears and she
watched each one roll in. The surfers
were sitting on their boards, lined up like toy soldiers standing sentry. They were doing their best to find the perfect
wave but this morning the waves were small and so the surfers mostly stayed out
away from the beach. It was so hot and
with the small waves and the surfers staying out in the deep water she was sure
it would be safe to venture out of the shallow water. She gingerly stepped a little deeper, ever
slowly creeping further into the water until she had to hop a little for each
wave as it rolled towards the beach. She
laughed at herself and enjoyed the feeling of being a little kid again playing
in the surf. She had gone a bit further
than she should and further than she ever had before but the water made her
feel so alive and cool. She had been out
longer than she intended and turned to check on her bag that she had left
unattended back on the beach when an unusually large wave caught her from
behind and spun her over. Her head was
pulled under water and she was tossed and tumbled about like she had been
thrown into a washing machine. She could
not find the surface. She was not even
sure if she was right side up or upside down. The waves seemed to be crash in on her as they
tossed her over and over. For a moment
her head was above water and she had gasped for air but as quickly as the air
appeared it was gone again and she had swallowing half a mouthful of saltwater. She fought frantically clawing for the surface,
for another small gulp of air. Her lungs
burned but all she could see were bubbles and green foam all around her. Surely, she had thought, someone had to have seen
her go under. Someone would pull her
free, but no hand of rescue reached out to her.
Slowly the green water had faded to black.
_________________________________________________
You can continue reading the story at: http://jssince2012.blogspot.com/2012/10/chapter-2-just-another-day-at-beach.html
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