The Hidden Beach

The rhythmic sound of the waves could be heard through the tall pine trees that keep the small beach hidden. Sadie had found the trail one day when her car broke down alongside the road. When she was told that the tow truck would take hours to get there, she decided that she couldn’t wait around in her well loved Subaru. Now, it’s the perfect place to leave her car when she needed time by herself. The trail to the beach was overgrown and slippery with mud. The drizzle in the morning had turned into a steady rain. The trees did little to protect the ground from the rain, but it did provide the right amount of shelter for the wild blackberried to grow. Sadie kept her rain jacket zipped up as she climbed over fallen trees and jumped over the slow slugs that were crossing the dirty trail.

The flutter of seagull wings revealed the entrance to the beach. They were the watchful guardians of the hidden shore, but allowed Sadie to pass. She threw a handful of breadcrumbs from her backpack at the watchmen as a thank you as she walked onto the sand. The sand was damp from the rain and full of washed up seaweed from the tide. The kelp and seaweed provided a soft cushion for her to walk on as she headed to her favorite rocks that she climbed on to admire the view of the rolling waves and the sea animals that play in them. She carefully maneuvered herself up the rocks that were worn away by the sea. She had learned through experience where the best steps were in order not to slip back down to the sand below.

Once she was settled in her favorite nook, she pulled out her thermos that was full of hot coffee. The sea mist and the steam from the coffee mingled together into the air. Sadie had perfected this routine for weeks. She would sit and enjoy her coffee and then pull out a well used journal and write about her thoughts and feelings that she was having. This hidden beach was also the perfect spot for finding washed up treasure. When the weather was warmer, she would often search up and down the shore to find broken pieces of gold, but she cold never find an intact piece to figure out what they were. This foggy morning was different, Sadie began to zone out looking through the steam of her coffee. Once the steam had dissipated, she thought she saw something in the distance. It was probably just a sea otter. They loved to frolic in the waves together. Except this one was alone, and not moving. It was just bobbing up in down as the waves were being pushed by the wind.

Sadie sat up to look closer at the figure. Maybe it was just a driftwood just caught in the current, but Sadie’s interest was already peaked. She packed up her small bag and clambered back down the rocks to the shore. The watchful seagulls just observed her without causing a fuss, which was odd because they always had something to say. The world seemed to slow down as Sadie reached the shore where the waves kissed the edge of the washed up seaweed. The wind stopped and the waves became motionless. The local animals on the beach quieted as if they were anticipating the start of a show.

Amongst the waves, a blonde creature watched Sadie. It was not human, but wasn’t a marine animal either. There was a human likeness to the eyes that seemed to comprehend Sadie. Its blonde hair pooled around its body, making it hard to see what Sadie was looking at. Sadie could make out the green eyes that stared at her, along with an upturned nose, but she could also make out what looked like gills along its neck. It was also covered in what looked like shiny fur that glowed under the water. That would makes sense because of how cold the ocean was.

Sadie did not know how to react except by stuttering out, “Um, hello?” The green eyes just kept staring at her without saying a word. Sadie did not dare to go into the water, mostly on the account that it was freezing cold. They just stared at each other for a long time in complete silence until a seagull cawed at them to tell them on behalf of the rest of beach dwellers to hurry up. The seagull soared away from Sadie and landed next to the silent creature and bobbed in the water next to it. The creature reached up from under the water and handed the seagull something. Sadie could not make out what it was, but she could make out the webbed skin in-between its fingers. The seagull flew away from the water and dropped the object above Sadie. Sadie reached out and caught a small gold coin about the size of a nickel. The gold coin was inscribed with gold symbols, Sadie assumed it was the language that the creature spoke. One side of the coin had a beautiful woman with flowing hair on it holding what looked like a trident. The other side had a Parthenon on it with more symbols surrounding it. This must be an intact piece that she was finding pieces of.

Sadie reached into her bag and pulled out the different pieces of coins she had been collecting over the past few weeks. Now that she had an intact piece, it made senes that these were coins. Sadie’s thoughts began to speed around her mind. Different coins could mean that there was an undiscovered city under the sea where this creatures came from. The creature! Sadie looked up with a gasp.

It was gone. She noticed that the wind started to pick up and that the tide was coming in. The seagulls began to talk to each other again while Sadie stood in silence looking at the empty spot on the ocean.

Sadie’s routine changed from that day. She still leaves her car on the side of the road and greets the watchmen of the beach. She still drinks her coffee while watching the waves in hopes it shows back up and journals about her thoughts. Now she searches the beach no matter what the weather is. She still finds more pieces of coins, but now she finds different pieces of jewelry and other valuables that could only belong to the silent creature that visited her that one day on a rainy morning. She would never tell anyone about her hidden beach, or what she picks up from the sand, or about the mermaid from sea.