It was now Saturday and her family had left. I was drifting along the tide line looking for something to do.

"Hey Dad, catch anything?"

"Nope."

Dad was surf fishing. Actually, he was feeding chopped squid to the gulls. "Well, I'm going for a walk, see you later."

"Later."

Dad always spent his two weeks pretending to fish while he smoked his pipe and watch the waves roll in and back out. Mom always got severely burned the first day and would spend the rest of her vacation in air-conditioning. My brother built sand castles, and I walked the beach.

The pier was about five miles north. The beach was practically deserted. I tried to light a cigarette from the pack of Marlboros that Smokey Joe had given me. Wind kept blowing out my match. Oh, well.

There was bonfire ahead. I slipped into the circle and crouched down. Someone asked me for a cigarette, I offered the pack. She lit hers and I lit one from that. How do they do that? They offered me a beer from a cooler. Led Zepplin's Stairway to Heaven was playing in the background. Soon a hand-rolled cigarette came around. I just passed it on. It was time to go. "I'll see later."

"Yeah, later."

The bizarre conversations faded behind me along with the warmth and light of the fire. Out of the grayness of dusk I was startled by a voice calling, "Hey, where you going?" It was the Beach Patrol.

"Just up to the pier."

"OK, be careful."

Off they went.

By the time I reached the pier, darkness had fallen. Most of the fishermen had a good catch. "Yup, gotta get out beyond the breakers to catch fish in the ocean son." I wonder if Dad knew that. At Joe's Bait shop and newsstand, I bought a Snicker's Bar and bummed some matches. I took advantage of the shelter to light a cigarette before heading back.

The sky was pitch black; too many clouds to see the stars tonight. As I walked along the tide line, I could see sparkles of diamonds. The natural phosphorous glittered on the beach as each wave retreated to the sea. Ghads it was dark. I could make out the faint glow of an occasional jellyfish floating in the shallow water. I moved out of the surf to the hard packed sand just below the tide line. I lit another cigarette from the stub in my hand. The cherry red glow was not much, but it was light. I felt a light tickling across my feet. Probably just the sand blowing.

A light shown on the beach. It was just an old man walking his dog. As he approached, he shined the beam towards me and that was when I saw them. Hundreds, no, thousands of sand crabs. Little crab-like creatures about the size of a nickel scurrying over my bare feet.

"You might want to walk up here in the soft sand. They like to stay near the water."

That was good enough for me. Ten feet inland and I was safe from the critters.

"I never walk in the water, too many jelly-fish, crabs, sharks, ...."

I nodded and kept moving. Nature was bad enough without this character.

Now I had the problem of blowing sand caking onto my wet legs. I must have looked like a walking sand castle. Light another cigarette and keep moving.

The party was over. The bonfire was out everyone was gone and the charred driftwood remained. I stooped down, lit another cigarette.

"I guess everyone's gone."

From behind the dune I heard, "It might be nice if you were too." Apparently, I had missed one couple that lingered afterwards to say good-bye. I lit another cigarette and moved on. It was dark, I was tired, and it was time to be home.

I knew I was getting close to the path over the dune. I made out a shape ahead. Immediately I recognized the figure with the folding chair and fishing pole. I dropped the cigarette and called out, "Hey Dad, catch anything?"

"Nope."

We silently walked back to our vacation apartment. My mom and brother were already asleep. He set up his chair on the porch and lit his pipe. I went out back and rinsed off the sand in the out-door shower. I gave the last few cigarettes a shower, pitched them in the trash, and went inside to sleep. My last memories were the soft cherry glow and the sounds of "Stairway to Heaven."