Amid the Mists of Lightning Beach

The rain pelted the wet, gray sand as shallow waves broke and shifted along the beach. It was a long trek from the Revere Beach station where we got out to the area of the beach where the changing rooms and restaurants were located. And it was raining. We looked out at the ocean, where the horizon of the sea merged with the rain and low clouds. Suddenly, the mist cleared enough that a ghostly piece of land jutted out near the horizon. Nobody else was on the beach; the landscape was isolated, misty, and gray.

Of course, we didn't mind. We decided that we wanted to go to the beach, and why let a little bit of rain stop us from having fun? But we couldn't help joking, as we trudged along the shore, about how ominously like the opening of some kind of horror movie the setting was.

"Mistake number one," said Derek, "deciding to go to the beach in the rain. Mistake number two: going into the water. Next thing you know, we'll be sucked in by some strange creature or there will be a portal to another land..."

Just then, I noticed the ghostly landscape across the water and said, "Maybe we could rent a boat and go there."

"That would be mistake number three!" someone shouted.

We walked on, conversing amongst ourselves, when suddenly Sachi pointed out Marena's hair. "Your hair is standing straight up!" she said, as others looked. Indeed, the hairs on the top of her head were pointed upward, as if affected by an electric field.

"Rebecca," I said, amused, "your hair is standing up too."

Then it dawned upon us: we were the only objects on a long, flat beach in the rain, and we all seemed to be electrically charged. I think you can see what I'm getting at....

"Too bad I didn't bring my collapsable metal cage," Derek joked. "Actually," said Sachi, seriously, "that would be really useful now. Don't be mocking about it." We decided to try to get closer to the buildings, away from the shore, before any lightning-related catastrophe struck. So we made our way up toward the street, and eventually managed to get into a pizzeria, and the rain eventually stopped, without any lightning strikes.

So we enjoyed the rest of the day at the beach, aside from a few minor flaws, such as trying to carry chocolate ice cream cones from the ice cream stand to our place on the beach and getting covered with dripping ice cream...but since I was spared that experience and only got a mild dripping of Italian ice, I can't complain too much. Needless to say, there is no reason to buy a cone when you can buy a cup--even when the person before you ordered a cone.

-Philip