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It was mostly sunny on the beach that day. She was wearing her standard white bikini, the one that shows off her naturally golden brown skin and some other stuff as well. She was going to wear her hair in a pony tail but at the last minute decoded to let it hang loose and around her shoulders. Besides, she was not dating Andy anymore and well, why not wear her hair down?
Sally likes the beach in general but ate June when the water in the pacific is just getting warmer is her favorite time. She had to leave work early just to make the train to the bus. Her students were very grateful to be rushed out of class so she could leave, “Anything for you Sally Teacher” in that flat tone that people have when learning a foreign language. Little did they know Sally Teacher would be barely covering her body with her skimpy bikini by morning?
She brought with her the latest reading phase she is going through, spiritual geometry. She laughs to herself when she thinks about wearing a barely legal but definitely culturally unacceptable bikini, reading about spiritual geometry on the beach of top of her blue and white striped beach towel. Well, at least the Korean version of a beach towel, it is more a standard western bath towel since they don’t use full sized towels in Central Asia. She bright some SPF 15 sun block just to squash the voices in her head that tell her she is gong to get burnt when she knows from experience that brown-skinned girls rarely get burnt and definitely not in June, maybe a trip to Thailand in February but not June.
Sally steps on to the beach and immediately removes her brown and tan earth-toned sandals with straps in back that took weeks to find since they don’t do that here either. She pauses to feel the sand tickle her toes and cant help but giggle out loud. Sand has always been a good friend of Sally’s. She notices two young guys staring out her while she is standing and letting the sand run through her toes. She almost looked back but remembered she has had enough of young guys and their little minds full of bullshit. Even if they are built like surfers with their year-round-summer tans. She laughs at loud again but this time it is not a giggle, more of a chuckle at the thought of college aged guys spending time at the tanning salons and trying to pull of being all manly.
She beds down and picks up her sandals and holds them in her right hand as she scans the beach for the right place to park for the day. No, not the gawking college boys, no, not the dirty middle aged guy with binoculars staring at her body, definitely not the three fake blonde girls in bright pink bikinis and white plastic, large sunglasses. Ahhh, open spaces to her left just near the edge of the shoreline- perfect! She heads there without taking her eyes off the destination and the approaching water. Her shoulders relax and she takes in a few deep breathes of salt water and the smell of freshness. She already feels at home on a beach she has never been to before. Growing up in a beach community will do that to a girl. She places her towel on the sand, lays down her canvas bag full of f goodies like aloe juice, her iPod and phones, two bananas and of course her book on spiritual geometry. Oh yeah, and her yellow and brown writing pad that she is hoping a few poems may burst on to the pages if her muse decides today is the day. He has been silent lat3ely and one of the reasons she wanted to get the beach to wake his lazy ass up so she can do some writing again.
She gets up and stretches before walking the short fifteen feet to the shoreline anticipating that magic moment of the first touch of ocean water of the season. It is like the first time a guy, no, she decides not to go there today. Today is about her, not men, boys and sex, today o sabot sally. That was=s great plan till she simultaneously felt that first footstep into the cool but barely wet sand and discovered the dark-skinned, maybe equatorial islander guy swimming like a little kid way out beyond everyone else. Her head spins for a second at the rush of the now very cool water above her ankles, almost at her knees and those same knees forgetting about doing the holding up thing while taking in the upper body of this totally playful man splashing and twirling by himself in the water. He is everything Andy isn’t- dark playful, free and well, not Andy! Sally stared off into the endless horizon if water and waves and considers a totally new concept; maybe today is about me, and a guy. Yep, good to be back at the beach again. Home sweet home. She dives in to the fresh, clean cool water and submerges as long as she can hold her breath and pops up as a wave crushed over her and she falls flat on her back laughing and swallowing a mouthful of salt water. When she lands back on her feet and stops coughing, a voice from about ten feet away asks in a tone that only a man that is comfortable with being man has, “ are you OK? You took quite a ride there.”
She works hard to gain her senses and balance as she turns knowing exactly whom that voice belongs to by his Filipino accent, “Yes, I am fine. I just swallowed an entire mouthful of water while laughing at myself for forgetting the ocean has waves.”
She finally has gained her composure enough to look at him directly and smiles that her suspicions were right and it is the guy who was playing in his own little world moments ago. They make eye contact and hold it long enough for both of them to forget that you ate supposed to speak and introduce themselves at some point. She cannot contain herself again and starts laughing, apparently it is a day for laughing. He reaches out his hand firmly but warmly, “I am Trevor. I am here on holiday for two weeks and missed the sand and water so made my way from Seoul just to lay on the beach today.”
“Hi Trevor, I am sally.”
Yes today is about herself but also seems to include Trevor from The Philippines in her solo trip to the beach. Funny what sand, sun and salt water can do to a girl, and a guy?
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