The Beach

 

The Beach

By Cam Flanagan

3-19-2026

 

Right now, you and I are in the ocean, at the edge of the dark and the light.   It’s dangerous here.  Sharks and barracudas are everywhere.  But it’s also beautiful, and there are times when being here can be pleasant.   But for the most part, in my case, I wish that I could leave and find a better place.  And I know others that feel the same way.

Then one day, I wake up on the beach.  I don’t know what a beach is.   I don’t know where I am.  Everything is strange, but I am not afraid, not in the least.  The Sun dries my new body.  I walk around for the first time and see happy people on the beach, enjoying the Sun.

Then I look back at the water and realize that that is where I came from.  I see the waves crashing into the beach and I realize those are what brought me here.   In the water, I was fearful.  I wasn’t sad, I was melancholy.  The suffering of all the others around me brought me down.  In the water, I constantly had to worry about my survival.  I knew that the sharks and barracudas killed innocents.  Groups tried to dominate each other, and others horded “stuff”, always more.  It was all so evil, sad and pointless.

And with my new eyes, I could still see them all; the predators and the prey, the lost, the scared and the lonely. And I wanted to help.  In this new form, I could live on the beach or in the water.  It made no difference to me.  So I dove back into the water and tried to tell my old friends about the beach, but they couldn’t hear me. I was different now.  I could interact with my old friends and loved ones, but not enough to really help them, so I swam back to the beach. 

On the beach, I sat in the wet sand, right at the edge of the water, happy to be back on the beach, and sad for those still in the water.

An old man, dark tanned, white hair and beard, and gnarled by years in the Sun, came up to me with a smile.  “You can help them in this form, but you must be patient.  They only know that you are with them when they reach out and try and connect.  When they are distracted, they cannot feel your presence.  And the rulers of the water work very hard to keep them all distracted.  Mostly, they use fear.  But they also use, lust, gluttony, sloth, envy, hate, and pride, too.”

“And there is another way you can help them.  You can go back into the water with a new body, made for the water.  But if you do, you will forget about the beach and suffer for a while, until you remember who you are.  But while you are there, you can guide people to the beach with your words, your deeds, and your presence of mind.  You will take a piece of what you know now, with you.  And no matter how hard the rulers of the water try, they will not be able to keep this memory from you.  But they will try, and try hard.  It won’t be pleasant, quite the opposite. But this is the most effective way to bring the most of those in the water, to the beach.”

And so, I sat at the edge of the water, in the soft red Sun, watching waves crash into my toes, contemplating.