Children wade into the water, laughing as their feet get stuck in the wet sand like a starfish, stuck on glass. Splashing about and having fun in the sea is all the children think about. The smell of the salt-sea is strong in their noses – and hair-now. The sand is perfect for building castles. Some of the children have noticed this and have started building sand-cities, each castle, a masterpiece. You can see the children, bursting with pride at their creations. They take an interest in the many rock pools. Scavenging through them, they cautiously poke around them, ready to jump back any second, in case a crab snaps at them. Every type of shell can be found in these. Some of the children start a challenge. “Whoever finds the most shells, WINS!!” Everybody frantically runs around, trying to get the shells before others. After a few minutes, the children count up the shells. The winner leaps for joy. Remembering the sandcastles, they sprint back to them and start decorating them with the many shells. In the end, the sandcastles represent nothing more than a mini city, expertly decorated with the many spectacular sea-shells, complete with a moat, protecting their hard work.
The strong smell of good old fish‘n’chips reminds the kids that they are ravenously hungry. They jog towards their Mum’s and Dad’s and pester them to buy a portion. Once they’ve eaten their fill, they demand ice-creams. Bemused parents think their children have appetites to match tigers if they are still not full. The taste of the cold, milky 99 flake ice-cream is refreshing on the child’s tongue after the hours spent playing under the boiling gaze of the sun. The hundreds and thousands look like little drops of rainbows, scattered all over ice-creams. Old women come and set out their big, black umbrellas’, looking like ravens. Teenagers have start surfing on the huge waves; girls shout encouragement to them so the boys show off. Sea gulls, with eyes of a hawk, spot leftover food and swoop, as fast as tigers, down to eat it as quickly as they can. Children experience their first donkey ride, thinking that it is scarier than a rollercoaster, falling off when they try sitting on the donkey themselves. The children that mange to get on to the donkeys end up sitting the wrong way round.
Storm Clouds roll towards the peaceful beach: dark, heavy, grey clouds against the bright, blue, blissful sky. Parents grimace at the clouds and, with a sigh, start to pack up. The entire beach is brewing. All the children are crying; they don’t want to go away from the peace of the blurred, as everyone ‘evacuates’, not wanting to be caught in the horrendous storm that is beach. The cars loaded; children firmly strapped into the back seats, the people start going. As the last car starts up, the first of billions of fat, heavy rain drops start falling heavily on to the car. Wipers on fast; the last of the tourists go, just escaping the horrendous storm that has ruined a perfect day at the beach.
