I WANNA BE - A DIAMOND... Someday!

The sun ran once more behind the clouds and each time in the newly emerging shade the temperature noticeably cooled. A warm moderate breeze kicked up and a gust of wind blew the loose sand off the dunes to cover his blanket and cooler with a fine dusting of grit. This was a secluded part of Daytona, yet unspoiled by the sea of high-rise hotels and clutter of the more renowned parts. It was the last refuge for the locals who came to enjoy it for its charm and not to pollute or exploit it. But it wouldn’t be long before this last little bit of heaven was sacrificed to the greed of the developers to assuage their endless appetite for their five cars, three boats and a plane. Their highly leveraged lifestyles only fed their frenzied pursuit of more choice real estate to develop or plunder as the case may be. No he wasn’t a tree hugger, he understood the necessity for progress; he supported it, but there had to be some mitigation to achieve a balance upon which we could all agree. It was late in the season, yet at the same time nearly the start of the next which would bring another influx of tourists to this year round destination resort. Most families and couples had other plans and except for a few surf-casting fishermen he was nearly alone with his thoughts. Well he was alone. They certainly weren’t intruding. It suited his mood just fine. He welcomed the quiet times with which to reflect upon whom he was, where he was, where he had been and where he was going. He liked to use these quiet times to put his life into perspective and to try to determine a direction for the future. Ah, but to hell with agendas and plans – they were, at least in his life, a blueprint for frustration and failure – far better to just deal with life spontaneously. When things slowed down and all the spice seemed to have dissipated, well that was probably a sign that he had overstayed his welcome and had become a too familiar face. So it was time to move on and seek another refuge – another venue where he could resume his search with renewed spirit. It was, after all, who he was. Would it ever end? Did he really want it to? Sometimes yes, he answered to himself, he wanted it over with all his heart and soul – at other times, maybe even most times - he was just too mentally exhausted to give a damn. Ten thousand drinks in a thousand bars in a hundred cities – it all became the same. The conversations, the shallow acquaintances all began to melt into a potpourri of boredom and loneliness – the mosaic of his life. He shifted his gaze out at the sets of waves assaulting the shoreline. He was always impressed by the tenacity of the tides, which at least in this epoch had neither a beginning nor any discernable end. As he scanned the shoreline to his right, off in the distance a large plume of blowing sand caught his attention. As the plume closed the distance to where he sat, the small blot at the front of the cloud morphed into the shape of a Jeep Wrangler with open cab, roll bars and huge balloon tires. It slowed down enough as it passed to reveal a lady in shorts, a bikini top and a sun visor headband behind the wheel. She looked his way and waved, but continued on. As he followed her trail down the beach with his eyes, he saw her slow down still more and swing around in a wide arc heading back towards him. She stopped about ten yards away shut it down and got out and walked towards his blanket. As she approached within earshot he called out to her, “Nice day for 4-wheelin.” “Yeah, I love this beach without all the tourists.” “I know what you mean.” “Are you by yourself?” she asked stopping at his blanket. “Yeah I am, how about you?” “Well I am now, my ex-boyfriend’s in a body bag under the cargo net in the back,” she said raising her eyebrows affecting a self-satisfied whimsical expression and adding a little chuckle as an easy smile crept across her lips. “Well that’s one way to win an argument.” “Ah, a great sense of humor, I like that in guys,” she said as she winked and flashed a bright smile revealing brilliantly white perfectly formed teeth. “I’ll remember that, I’d hate to wind up bouncing around in the back of your buggy in a rubber sack.” “Mind if I sit down?” “Oh geez, I’m sorry, of course not. Here, let me scoot over and make some room on the blanket.” “My name’s Sondra, she said offering her hand.” “Hi Sondra, I’m Geoff,” he said taking her hand and holding it for a few seconds. “Nice to make your acquaintance, are you in a hurry to bury the bones or can you hang out awhile spend some time and have a little conversation.” “Oh, I can kill some time; these bags are really pretty odor proof.” “Level with me Sondra; you didn’t really croak your ex?” “Well no Geoff, but I should have – he was such a jerk.” “Do you need to get something off your chest or do you just want to forget about it and move on?” She sat down, brushed her hair back and turned to him – “Let’s forget about him and move on. I see you have Colorado tags – you’re a long way from home.” “That’s not my home; it’s just the last place I came from.” “What brought you to Florida?” “The water - I missed the salt air, the majesty of the ocean and the tides.”