FOREVER

FOREVER

Kori flipped over onto her back on the deck chair and raised it into a sitting position. She adjusted her sunglasses and reached for the sunblock on the small side table abutting her chair. As she slathered the fragrant coconut sunscreen over her body she looked around and sighed with satisfaction. The water had that blue-green aqua shade, that screamed - tropics. A short ways away, a group of dolphins frolicked in the surf, their whistles and clicks could be distinctly heard. The receding tide had left a wide strip of beach, littered with shells, some seaweed, and a few sea creatures that hadn’t returned to the depths in time, and had been stranded on the sand. When she first walked onto the beach this morning, she had assisted, with the side of her sandal, a few small crabs back to their home in the ocean. She had staunchly refused to do anything with the jellyfish other than to give a little quiver, like when you hear a child playing their recorder instrument or chalk screeching on a chalkboard.  Quite frankly, jellyfish gave her the willies. 

The beach stretched the full length of the cove in either direction, hugging the waterline until it met with the cliffs at the end of the bay, creating a small but private harbour. The total isolation of the beach was most welcome. No children laughed and screamed as they dug holes in the sand or made sandcastles. There were no squeals as they dashed into the water. There were no sounds of parents admonishing their children, telling them not to go out too far, or to stop splashing their sibling. No teenagers running and jumping over each other or playing beach volleyball, music blaring. Neither were there any old men in their twenty-year-old Speedos, snoozing in the sun, letting their bald pate get burned like a tomato. Nor were there any old grannies in their too-skimpy bathing suits that displayed as many wrinkles as an elephant.

It was paradise, pure and simple.

 A squawk came from behind Kori and she turned and watched as a scarlet macaw preened itself in the palm tree beside her small beach house. It eyed  Kori as she turned to admire it, but realizing there was no danger, it plucked at its plumage and ignored her. She loved the palm trees that covered the beachfront property, they were her favourite tree. She even had a little silver charm of a palm tree that she wore on a chain around her neck. The dwelling was small and cozy, just right for a couple or a single individual who wanted to get away from it all. There were large sliding glass windows so the viewer was afforded the best possible panoramic view of the beach and ocean. 

Kori reached out and picked up the small cooler on the table, from its icy cavity she carefully withdrew her tropical drink adorned with its turquoise umbrella and fuschia straw. She took a long sip and felt the icy fruit punch slide down her parched throat. She smacked her lips in pleasure., then she stood up and slowly sauntered down to where the ocean glided back and forth in the shallows. She curled her toes in the sand at the water's edge, clenching and unclenching them. Tiny fish nibbled at her toes and she remembered that some Asian Spas allowed tiny fish to clean the feet of their elite clientele and that they paid big bucks for the experience. “And I get it all for free,” she mused. “Well, not exactly free,” she thought in retrospect. This vacation had set her back a pretty penny, but it was worth it. The last semester at the private school where she taught had been difficult. A new principal had to be brought in when the old principal had been struck down with a sudden illness and it had been a very challenging transition. She loved her teaching job and loved the kids, but with her active class this year as well as extracurricular activities, tutoring from home,  and daily skirmishes with the interim principal, she felt seriously burnt out.

Kori waded out feeling the warm water cool her hot beach-baked skin; when she was chest-deep she dipped completely under. She played in the water and was soon joined by several brave dolphins from the nearby pod. She felt a rush of fear when she initially saw the fin of one of the dolphins approaching but fear quickly turned to excitement when she realized that she was being visited by a dolphin, not a shark. Several more inquisitive dolphins joined their friends and Kori was actually able to touch them. This magical moment lasted for only a short time before they returned to their pod but Kori considered it to be one of the highlights of her holiday if not her entire life. She watched them from a distance before deciding it was time to head back and start thinking about dinner. She had spent the entire day on the beach, reading, sleeping, lunching, and enjoying every minute of her vacation.

  She waded back through the water, the wind was picking up a little and she could feel the waves splashing on the back of her body, hurrying her along. She was almost to the beach when she looked down and saw a large conch shell in the shallows. She carefully picked it up and gave it a little shake to make sure there wasn't any small sea creature living inside it. She knew that some kind of creature inhabited the conch but she just wasn’t sure if it was something that was permanently attached to the shell or something like a crab that often used them as a temporary home. Giving it another little shake, she was relieved when nothing jumped out. The inside of the shell was a soft pearly pink, the outside an off-white and tan colour.  It was the largest conch she had ever seen, almost perfect in shape with its high curled spires all in wonderful condition. The Queen Conch shell must be very old, to be this large.  She had seen some of the local people at the airport using the conch shell as a wind instrument. She knew it was something that they did for special ceremonies but also to capture the interest of the many tourists that flocked to the tropics. She had also heard that the meat of the conch shell is considered a delicacy by many people and was often added to salads or stews, soups, and local dishes. She would bring it home with her as a souvenir, to show her class and maybe her class could do a small research project on it.

 She gave the conch one more shake and headed to her recliner.  Checking once again for anything in the curls of the queen conch, she held it to her ear and listened as the shell echoed the sounds of the waves lapping on the beach. This is the perfect day she thought, warmth, water, waves, touching the friendly dolphins, and finding a beautiful queen conch shell to commemorate her holiday.” I wish I could stay here forever” she said aloud as she absently rubbed the shell. Delighted with her find, she placed the shell carefully in her capacious beach bag.

 The sky darkened and there was a sudden crash of thunder and a flash of lightning that lit the sky. It seemed to come out of nowhere. Kori quickly grabbed her beach bag and cooler before the tropical rain descended and hurried across the sand to the few steps where the sand joined the walkway to the beach house. Taking a step, her head crashed into something and was then repelled and she jolted backward, she swiveled around but could not locate what she had bumped into. She stepped onto the first step again, and once more her forehead connected violently with something and then was instantly repulsed. She grabbed her forehead and then reached out in front of her tentatively. She could feel a resistance, it was like a large pane of glass that resisted, then gave way, and then resisted again. She could see through it but the force would not let her pass. Kori stepped back from the steps and moved over a few feet and tried to climb up on the grass. Again she was met with the same strange resistance. She walked along the verge between the sand and the grass but the same force field held her back. It was something like one of those plasma or energy shields in those old science fiction movies her brother used to watch as a kid. Kori had never been much into science fiction but she knew enough to be scared. This wasn’t natural, this wasn't normal, this was paranormal,  and not scientifically explainable. How had this bubble deflector shield suddenly appeared?

Kori walked the length of the cove, on both sides of the stairs, but the barrier of energy appeared to run from one end of the cove to the other. She was unable to penetrate through the barrier at any point. She was completely drenched by the time she returned to the lounge chair.  The tide was coming in now, the beach was getting smaller and smaller.  The friendly dolphins had disappeared beneath the surface of the water and the parrot had also vacated its perch.  She was alone on the beach, she had never felt so alone in her life. a beach that suddenly felt cold, dark, and ominous. Her paradise had become a prison. She grabbed the large beach umbrella that stood behind the lounge chair where she had previously sat and opened it up. She bent the umbrella so it covered the chair. Sitting down she huddled in fear as the wind whipped the ocean into a frantic frenzy and made the umbrella blow about, threatening every moment to take flight into the storm. Tears streamed down her face mixed with the torrential rain.  As she reached into her bag to pull out her towel to dry herself off,  the queen conch shell fell out. She  clutched it with her hands and raised it to her ears and clearly heard the whispers of the shell, “Be careful what you wish for.”