Salamanders In Swim-Trunks
Imagine with me right now if you will, a serene painting.
Visualize this scene in your mind's eye as you are stretched out on the
hot burning sands of a tropical beach in Mexico.
You are relaxing naturally on a colorful beach towel on the soft sandy
beach. The music of the seagulls
and the ocean waves soothes your soul. You
take in a deep breath through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
There's a smooth blend of tropical smells as you indulge in your typical
daydreams. The tide crawls ever so
slowly towards you in a rocking motion as you drift in and out of a magical
slumber. You can hear the faint
sounds of the Maharachi's in the distance as they musically add to your peaceful
enjoyment. Nearby kids are building
a huge sand castle with their buckets and shovels as you drift off into a deep
restful sleep.
Suddenly you are awakened as you rub your eyes to find a creature
burrowing in the sand next to your beach towel.
The castle the kids were building is finished now and has taken on a new
look of it's own. People adorn the beach sipping on tropical date nut smoothies
as they relax on their decorative beach towels.
Next to me is a large beach umbrella with a very unusual green salamander
wearing colorful beachwear and sunglasses.
He has fins on his feet as if he just retreated from a swim in the warm
ocean water. He has an old straw
hat next to him, as he lies stretched out under the huge palm tree.
It was very peculiar to see a salamander in swim trunks, but there he was
right next to me. You couldn't miss
him! I closed my eyes tight and
then re-opened them to see if he was for real and sure enough he was still
there. I knew that if he started
surfing that I would check myself into the nearest hospital.
For now I chose to accept what my eyes were apparently seeing.
The sky had a light marine layer starting to form and there was still
enough sun to keep us quite warm. I
put my Hirachi Sandals on and decided to get a closer look at my unbelievable
discovery. Kids were now skateboarding down the boardwalk as they did
their mid-air jumps over the curbs. The
seaweed and bull kelp lined areas of the beach attracting many insects.
Along the waters edge couples enjoyed paddleball as they kept the ball
moving back and forth to each other.
Everything seemed pretty normal at this end of the beach, but as I turned
to head back towards the green salamander, he was already standing up in his
bright swim-trunks playing with a beach ball.
He motioned over to me to come and play with him as I pretended not to
notice. How silly I would look
playing ball with a "Salamander In Swim-Trunks!"
But he was relentless as he tossed the ball in my direction, forcing me
to notice him. I caught the ball
and he smiled at me as he motioned for me to toss it back to him. Here I was playing beach ball with a green salamander on a
beach in Mexico in front of everyone!
People around us went about their business, as if they didn't even
notice. How could they ignore this most unusual sight?
Before long a chill came over me and I started to shake and shiver.
The marine layer had completely engulfed the beach.
When I awoke cold and wet, the beach was completely deserted!
I wiped the sand from my body and shook off my beach towel.
As I looked around for the green "Salamander In Swim-Trunks,"
he was nowhere to be found! The
kids were gone and so was the castle. All
was quiet except for the crashing of the waves against the shore.
Nighttime was approaching and I quickly came to realize that I had fallen
fast asleep and had the most unusual dream.
I laughed out loud as I headed down the beach for home.
I looked out over the vast ocean one last time and caught a glimpse of a
green "Salamander In Swim-Trunks" waving to me as he swam away!
Copyright
1997 by Author Patti Tricoli
