West Coast Beach

Chapter 1: In the midst

Chapter 1: In the midst

The traffic light changed from yellow to red. (Much like Dave’s face when he and other members of his tight-knit group were building up the courage to disrobe at the nude beach. Then his face turned too red as the lifeguard told him they were still on the public beach. The boundary for the nude each was half a mile north.)

Three female members of the group were modest. They wore swimming suits under their clothes and only disrobed down to their swimming suits. John watched intensely as the girls started to disrobe.

Tom: Woo-hoo!

John: Yeah… take it off.

Sally: Control yourselves.

A crowd started forming as the group and the lifeguards interacted. In no time, the close nit group and the lifeguards were surrounded.

Many clothed beach visitors observed the group and the lifeguard’s interaction. The surrounding beach visitors felt embarrassed for the group,

The group themselves hardly noticed the embarrassing situation they had just come through. Their focus was on other things. Earlier, the car they were riding in overheated, their trip delayed to the notorious Black’s Beach, suffering frustration most of the day. And sitting on the hot vinyl seats of Tom's loaner car, the hot sun on their backs, and the cool breeze of the ocean felt good.

The group carried on as they hurriedly walked away from the crowd up the beach. The distance between the crowd and the lifeguards gradually increased.

Dave: Well, at least now we’re not guessing where the beach starts.

Sally: Good thing we found out now rather than later.

The clean smell of the ocean overpowered the occasional rotting marine life washed up on the beach. The brightness of the sun glistened off the white sand as the seagulls circled above.

Their skin was beginning to change color as the sun’s rays beat down upon them. While they were still on the public part of the beach, the people they saw using the beach seemed fit.

They walked past a row of lawn chairs, occasionally divided by beach umbrellas. They walked past a series of volleyball nets, occasionally there would be a volleyball game going on at a volleyball net. Raphael narrowly missed stepping on a jellyfish that had washed up on the beach.

Tom: Watch out for that jellyfish washed up on the beach. They can still sting you.

Raphael knew about the danger of stepping on a jellyfish and was startled when he realized how close his foot was to the washed-up marine animal.

Raphael: Yes, I heard about that.

John: We must still be on the public beach, those volleyball players still have their clothes on.

As they walked, they came across several paramedics and lifeguards huddled around a beachgoer that looked as if he had passed out. An ambulance was also nearby.

Dave: What happened?

Parametric: Ah… This beach patron worked on his suntan for too long and got seriously dehydrated. We are treating him for heatstroke. It’s really important to keep yourself hydrated in this heat.

Dave: Do you think he will make it?

Parametric: Yea… He should. We'll transport him to the hospital after we rehydrate him a bit more.

The group continued to walk up the beach. As they were walking, a jeep full of lifeguards and an ambulance slowly traveled past them in the other direction. They walked past lifeguard stands manned with female and male lifeguards wearing zinc oxide on their noses.

Judy: Those seagulls are pretty bold. I can almost touch them as they swoop lower and lower.

Phyllis: They are hoping to get food.

As the group advanced farther north toward the boundary separating the public beach from the nude beach, they noticed hang gliders on the cliffs adjacent to the beach. Some hang gliders had already launched from the cliffs and soared outwards toward the ocean under their power. Other hang gliders were getting readied to launch. The soaring hang gliders were majestic as they effortlessly coasted through the air. Some hang gliders had riders riding in tandem. There were two riders per hang glider, these hang gliders soared through the air just as gracefully as the hang gliders with only one rider. There appeared the traditional glider as well, the glider that is usually towed behind an airplane, those gliders catapulted off the cliff by gravity.

Dave: Look at those hang gliders. Way cool.

Tom: Maybe we should add hang gliding to our bucket lists.

The group continued walking north. It was now approaching mid-afternoon.

This was a popular surfing destination as well since there was an abundance of surfers attempting to surf.

Phyllis: Even though those surfers are wearing wetsuits. They still look fit. Those surfers are cute.

Tom: Look at those lightweights wearing their wetsuits. Real men shouldn't need wetsuits.

Sally: Wow… Look at the surfer’s surf. I agree with you, Phyllis.

John: Look who seems to be out of control now.

The group of friends then continued their journey toward the nude beach.

Chapter 2: Escaping Embarrassment.

©2022, Robert Shaneyfelt

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