Posted by Allison Smith
There is another world down there and we are the Kings of it. If we walk to the edge of the beach, and jump, then we would fall into the world we rule. We hope.
A portal has been created by a universal agreement not to disturb the still water. No wind, no birds, and no falling leaves dare cause a ripple on the surface. We sit on top of a disintegrating lifeguard stand on the ring that surrounds the opening. Tall black trees enclose the opening and us.
The purple sky and budding stars are perfectly mirrored through the hole in the ground. We are floating though space to some sort of heaven on this disintegrating lifeguard stand.
The cold bites our toes but we still sit up high, peering down at the world we used to be Kings of.
With our big sunglasses, red lips, we are queens of the beach. There is no way we are jumping into that cold water. The sand is warm and we like to run our manicured nails in it.
Children drag their parents screaming with excitement into the mucky water. The town's swim team, The Snappers, lazily lap back and forth in the deep end of the roped in area.
We push our blonde hair behind our ears and stick buds in to listen to music.
We walk in circles around the boys playing pickle admiring their firm abdomens. We suck our stomachs in. We lie on our matching white towels waiting for them to bow down to their queens.