Sandy realizes she is on a nude beach

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.