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PB & J Matt was crushed. His friends told him had a flair for the dramatic, but this time, he was not exaggerating. His heart, crushed. His happiness, crushed. His mind, crushed. His body, crushed. Well, maybe not his body. That would be unfortunate. “Hey, man, how’s it going?” Ryan slapped him across the shoulder as he swaggered by. The guy could never simply walk, could he? Matt gave his best grin. “Great, just fantastic.” “You sure?” His mouth was concerned, but his eyes were laughing. “Thought I saw you had a spill on the waves out there.” Matt wanted to punch him. He didn’t. “Yeah, fine.” “Let me know if you need any help, all right?” The lifeguard punched him again, this time on the opposite shoulder. “I’m getting on the stand now.” As soon as Ryan continued his strut to the lifeguard stand, Matt stomped off, sand puffing up in little white clouds with each step. That guy. On top of everything else… He stopped himself from muttering a few appropriate curses as a family tramped onto the beach and crossed his path, lugging their cooler, chairs, umbrella, and buckets full of plastic toys. He could have moved around the train of people, but his muscles were too sore for him to be overexerting them. So he waited. For all he knew, it could have been a railroad crossing. The twin red-headed boys galloped ahead, yelling about finding sharks. Then the pregnant mother and a swarm of elementary-aged girls inched along, squealing something unintelligible. A toddler boy came tripping along next. A beautiful girl with golden hair and freckles speckling her arms held the little boy’s hand. Matt didn’t stare. They moved by too quickly for that. So he ambled closer to the water, his surfboard tucked underneath his arm, and plopped down onto the sand. As he closed his eyes and lay his head down, he felt the late afternoon sun baking his skin. He knew he’d wake up looking like a lobster, but he didn’t care anymore. He couldn’t believe his misfortune. He had been sitting on the beach after his humiliating fall on the waves, minding his own business. His delicious roast beef and provolone sandwich on a hoagie roll was on the sand, just waiting for him. So he waited till his hands dried, unwrapped the perfect specimen, and opened his mouth to sink his teeth into that delicious sandwich. Then it was gone. Quick as lighting, the evil gull darted in, snagged his entire sandwich, and flew out. Matt’s stomach rumbled. He was so hungry he could have eaten a cow. Well, if he couldn’t eat, he might as well sleep. **** The scream jerked him awake. His eyes flew open, and he jumped to his feet. He instantly saw two heads in the water, disappearing and reappearing. A quick glance at the lifeguard stand revealed it to be empty. Ryan was already in the water, his arms cutting through the choppy waves like butter. At least he was doing his job. Matt watched for a few seconds before he realized the kids were panicking. Ryan couldn’t do it alone. Matt leapt in. He was on swim team at school, but none of that mattered now. He reached them in fourteen strokes. The two red-headed boys were kicking and flailing their limbs in every possible direction. The ‘rescue’, if that’s what it was called, was a blur. Matt just knew he somehow got back to shore, a five-year-old boy in tow. Miraculously, the boy hadn’t strangled him in the process. His mother scooped him up, and the entire family swooped around them. Matt got lost somewhere in the fringes of the circle. So he strolled a little farther down the beach and dropped down to the sand. He wasn’t much of an artist, but the sunset was pretty, a swirl of purple and orange and yellow. Suddenly his stomach let out a monstrous growl. “Shush,” he ordered. “Matt?” He turned and stared. It was the beautiful girl with the golden hair. “Are you Matt? Ryan told me that was your name,” she explained and smiled brilliantly. “Uh, yeah,” he nodded. “I wanted to say-” “You saved my life!” Matt felt a pair of chubby little arms squeezing his neck. Trying not to cough dramatically, he simply extricated himself from the clutches of the boy. “Yeah, kid,” he said, awkwardly. “How about making a huge sand fort with your brother now?” The boy’s eyes grew huge. “Jeremy!” He yelled, running off. “That fort will be bigger than the beach,” the girl said seriously, her brown twinkling. “Thank you.” She sat down next to him. “Well, you’re welcome.” Matt didn’t know what else to say. “Oh, want a sandwich? My mom made too many.” Without waiting for him to accept it, she handed him a sandwich. “Sorry. It’s only PB and J.” Matt looked at the sandwich, then at the sunset, and then back at the girl. He was a whole man again. ***** -JG
