Beach Day

Beach day
By Alexandra Barbu

Sam is a 20 year old student at OCAD and is fed up with the snow. For a long time he has been thinking of taking a trip to Mexico or Cuba. It didn’t matter where, as long as it’s hot. He longs for the sun and hot sand in between his toes. Like usual, Sam takes the streetcar to school. After getting off, he walks through the slush and salt to arrive at the main doors. While the cold water seeps through his boots he thinks about how much money he has left to leave this bitter city. The wind blows and Sam feels a cold shiver down his spine. Finally he enters OCAD, and feels a rush of warm air.

Sam hears this Hawaiian like music, and wonders if he is dreaming. He is unsure if it is possible to hallucinate from the cold. He takes the stairs to the auditorium and sees some sand on the floor. He finally gets to the auditorium and to his amazement there is a beach laid out in front of him. The room is filled with sand. On the left side there is a stand with a large picture of a lemon on the top. A girl with a turquoise bathing suit is standing behind it. She is smiling and pouring some juice in a glass to a man in his red swim trunks. Sam guesses that they sell lemonade at the stand.

The heat seemed unbearable. Sam decides to take his coat and hat off, and still feels too hot. He looks around and sees more people with their swimsuits on. They all look like they are having fun. There are people resting on their towels as if they are tanning. Others are building sand castles and playing games. At this point Sam doesn’t care anymore and takes his clothes off, all the way down to his boxers, and decides to join the rest. Sam no longer thinks he needs to go to the beach, when the beach can come to him.