She started her run slowly in order to adapt
to running barefoot on a giving surface. She wondered if the slope would
overdevelop one leg eventually, then laughed when she realized the return trip
would guarantee symmetry in that department. There were very few people on the
beach this early. Workers at some of the many beach bars and open-air restaurants
gathered seaweed with over-sized plastic rakes designed for this purpose. Others
were moving beach chairs and umbrellas from storage units, or unchaining stacks
of them near the businesses in preparation for the day’s guests. Some glanced
up at her as she went by. Most continued their work without noticing her. Sandy
increased her pace, now getting used to the delay brought about by her foot’s impression
in the sand as she pushed off.
Just beyond a rock jetty in the distance
she could see people walking in her direction, coming around the jetty through
shallow water rather than climbing over it. As the space between her and the
morning walkers shrank, she could see they appeared to be older than her (and
not fitness nuts either), judging from their physiques. Their outfits lacked
color as well, and as she drew even closer, Sandy soon realized none of them
were wearing any clothes at all. She came to a dead stop, feeling both out of
place and like an intruder at the same time. Dumbfounded, she stood and stared
at the approaching throng of naked people. She looked down when one of them waved
to her, realizing she was calling attention to herself with her gawking. She
looked back from where she had started. She had only run about a third of the
way. This did not qualify as much of a workout for her. She wanted to turn
back, but there was nothing for her to do at the hotel. Even her room was tied
up. So she continued on cautiously, not knowing what to do with her eyes as she
approached the first of many couples.
“Morning!” she heard in a distinct southern
accent. Sandy ended her fixed gaze upon the sand in front of her and met the eyes
of a smiling couple as she passed. There wasn’t a stitch of clothes on either
of them. She nodded her head and picked up the pace. As with the first couple,
every subsequent person she passed gave her a salutation. Men walking alone,
couples like the first, groups of three to six people all blissfully happy and
exhilarated to greet the morning and everyone who shared it with them. If this
was a cult of some kind, it was the happiest one she would ever encounter in
her life. Maybe someone is selling Ecstasy
on the other side of those rocks, she speculated, although this demographic
probably finished experimenting with drugs in the sixties and seventies.
