Panama City Beach

He was not a big fan of the beach, let alone on a 100 degree day at Panama City Beach, his last favorite of beaches. She insisted he come along for this weekend jaunt to the pan-handle; being a good husband he grudgingly complied to join her for a few days of fun in the sun.

8:00 a.m. Saturday Morning

Out on the beach for a morning walk after a scant breakfast consisting of fruit, low-carb bagels and grapefruit juice, yummy. The sand under his feet felt wonderful but it’s shifting made him work extra harder as he they walked the shoreline. After about 15 minutes of walking he was ready to turn around. “Hey darling, are you about ready to turn around and head back to the condo?”

“Not yet darling, we have yet to make it to the pier. You know how I love walking out on the pier.”

He knew alright, did she know how much he hated walking on the beach, how much he hated Florida, how much hacted this weekend. No, she was oblivious to it all, she was oblivious to everything except her selfish whims and desires. Thinking about their years together, it had always been about what she wanted, and he always just let her have her way.

10:00 a.m. The Walk back from the Pier

The sun was beginning to beat down upon the white sand and its reflection bounced off the emerald waters making everything bright and hot. Little white wipes of clouds drifted across the baby blue canopy that merged with the ocean at southern horizon. The walk down to the pier was a good mile and walking back was an arduous task, his thighs burned and his calves begin to cramp as he tried to keep up with his wife. She was 20 years younger than him and expected his 55 year old body to keep up with her as she bounced down the beach.

“Come on honey, you always lag behind, do not be such a slowpoke.” She yelled back, as she ofen did when he lagged behind. Though he loved her, this he hated, how she needled him about falling behind. Never mind the fact that he had almost wore his knees out standing long hours at the pharmacy, working overtime filling prescriptions trying to meet her high-dollar needs. She had a taste for the extravagant and liked to be on the go constantly, which kept him busy just trying to keep his head above water.

“Okay honey, be right with you,” he yelled back with as much enthusiasm and good will as he could pull together. The walk on the sandy terrain was taking its toll on his knees, the pain intensified with each cumbersome step until finally he just had to sit down. He called out a her and when she looked back he made a tee with his hands signifying time-out. She walked back to where he sat down with that snarky-smirky look she took on when she was not happy with his actions.

“What‘s the matter with you? Get up from there, I want to do some swimming in the pool before noontime. Don’t be lazy, you always pull this stunt, lets go pokey.” Her words were a resounding dull thud to his already throbbing headache from the heat in addition to the sharp pains that shot through his knees every step he took. He sat still with a blank look on his face, just looking up at her, sat still in silence as she scowled with disapproval at his inactivity. “Well, I guess I will just have to swim out in the ocean since your lazy butt seems to be content for the moment embedded in the sand.

“Why don’t you sit down and relax a bit with me honey.” Though she got on his nerves at times and also hurt and made him angry at the times, he still longed to connect with her. He loved her very much and just wanted her to slow down and chill out with him for just a bit.

“No way pokey”, he hated when she called him that, “ one way or the other I am hitting the water.”

“Okay, darling suit yourself, I am going to kick back here with my toes in the sand. You go on have your fun, I will sit here and watch for sharks.”

In she went, in just a few minutes she was about 50 feet from the shore, bobbing and splashing on the choppy waves. He lay back and closed his eyes, thankful for a little peace and quite, a little time of rest from a berating spouse who was always goading him on to do this, do that , hurry here or hurry there. However, his respite was short lived, screams cut through the out air from the ocean , screams that sounded remarkably like his wife; from the beach the terrifying words, “Shark, shark, “ rang out.

His heart sank to the bottom of his big round gut as he shot to his feet. There out in the ocean he saw her, flailing arms, a panic-stricken face from which emanated shrieks of pain and terror. The water around her was turning crimson, she disappeared below the waves and then resurface, choking on the briny water and gasping for air, still flailing her arms, fighting the inevitable. He was heading to the water hoping that perhaps the shark had swam away, he was hoping to do what he could to rescue his sweetheart, his darling, the sunshine of his life when he saw the big triangle of the monsters dorsal fin coming up behind his wife. For just a moment her eyes met his, she had this scared yet resigned look in them like she knew how it was going to end. The shark’s fin disappeared from sight as it dived so as to be able to come up from under its prey. Then it happened, his wife was lifted up out of the water caught in the jaws of death, jaws lined with row upon row of razor sharp teeth clamped down on her; for just a moment she was above the water being violently shook from side in the jaws of the massive shark, then the monster drug his bloody prize down to the murky depths......

“Wake up, sleepy head. I cannot leave you out here by the pool for even a few minutes without you falling asleep. Let’s get going it’s time for us to go for a swim.”

“You do mean in the pool don’t you?” He asked.

“Of course silly, you know how I am afraid of being eaten by a shark out there in the ocean. Come on now, don’t make me wait.”

“I am on my way baby, swimming in the pool is fine with me, you better believe it is fine with me.”