“What’s that?” TJ mumbled to himself as he crossed the deep, hot sand. Reaching for a shiny plastic sandwich bag wedged between weeds at the edge of the beach, he turned it over in his hands multiple times before extracting a folded piece of paper.
The ocean is a wonder. A magical being that sinks deep into your blood, your skin, your soul. MiMi
As the rough surf crashed behind him, TJ reread the words several times. I wonder who MiMi is. But he didn’t have time for further contemplation. With heavy, black thunderheads forming in the western sky and time ticking ever closer to the three o’clock hour, his opportunity to scour the sand for ocean-front history of Southwest Florida waned rapidly.
With a gentleness that belied the size of his hands, he brushed the sand from the bag, refolded the thought-provoking note before returning it to its protected space, sealed it, and stuffed it into a side pocket of his cargo shorts. Picking up his metal detector, he wove his way along the tree line, keeping the troublesome sky in his peripheral vision.
TJ’s first time in Banyan Tree Bay had been mere days after Hurricane Adrienne had effectively wiped the place off the map. Despite knowing no one in Florida, when his cousin Jason suggested he take two weeks to help with the storm’s cleanup, he boarded a jet headed for Orlando with nothing more than a backpack full of clothing. After days of running heavy equipment, creating gigantic debris piles of what had previously been people’s lives, he assumed the once beautiful seaside municipality was destined to be a ghost town.
Eighteen months later, when he set off from his home in upstate New York on an unplanned course just to avoid the pain in his life, something deep inside had led him back to Banyan Tree Bay. He often wondered if the lure to the Gulf-side town was related to the anguish seen on the faces of the people there after the devastation caused by Adrienne.
Since his own heart had been shredded beyond comprehension since returning home from the storm cleanup, in his subliminal mind it made sense to hide amongst other sad people. Much to his surprise, he discovered a vibrant town and economy when he made his way back to the beach town. One that embraced him and still let him hide.
The ocean is a wonder. A magical being that sinks deep into your blood, your skin, your soul. MiMi
As the rough surf crashed behind him, TJ reread the words several times. I wonder who MiMi is. But he didn’t have time for further contemplation. With heavy, black thunderheads forming in the western sky and time ticking ever closer to the three o’clock hour, his opportunity to scour the sand for ocean-front history of Southwest Florida waned rapidly.
With a gentleness that belied the size of his hands, he brushed the sand from the bag, refolded the thought-provoking note before returning it to its protected space, sealed it, and stuffed it into a side pocket of his cargo shorts. Picking up his metal detector, he wove his way along the tree line, keeping the troublesome sky in his peripheral vision.
TJ’s first time in Banyan Tree Bay had been mere days after Hurricane Adrienne had effectively wiped the place off the map. Despite knowing no one in Florida, when his cousin Jason suggested he take two weeks to help with the storm’s cleanup, he boarded a jet headed for Orlando with nothing more than a backpack full of clothing. After days of running heavy equipment, creating gigantic debris piles of what had previously been people’s lives, he assumed the once beautiful seaside municipality was destined to be a ghost town.
Eighteen months later, when he set off from his home in upstate New York on an unplanned course just to avoid the pain in his life, something deep inside had led him back to Banyan Tree Bay. He often wondered if the lure to the Gulf-side town was related to the anguish seen on the faces of the people there after the devastation caused by Adrienne.
Since his own heart had been shredded beyond comprehension since returning home from the storm cleanup, in his subliminal mind it made sense to hide amongst other sad people. Much to his surprise, he discovered a vibrant town and economy when he made his way back to the beach town. One that embraced him and still let him hide.
