This piece was written for the weekly Unicorn Challenge based on a photo prompt.
The sign said ‘Domestic animals, even on leads, are banned from the beach from 6h – 21h’. Reinforced by armed patrols, this returned the beach to a sanctuary for the beaten and abused from their exes.
Sand castles were built without fear of destruction by bullies of any age or gender. Crabs could be examined excitedly and returned to the sea without being crushed under a boot.
Children could frolic unencumbered by clothes without being objects of carnal desire. Women could sunbake without men standing over them rubbing their groins.
Old people could paddle, holding hands, trousers rolled up and skirts hoisted, without fear of being foot-splashed or sand-blasted.
People could lay their towels and blankets down, confident that they would not be resting on the dog turds produced by the offspring of entitled owners of fur-kids. Their beach shelters would still be there when they returned from a swim to take a nap.
The ice-cream vendor would not be peddling drugs on the sly, disguised as cones.
Best of all, the sea would do what it has always done, with its ebbing and surging tides, delivering the detritus of seaweed and the discarded, bringing peace and solace to both the contented and depressed or the merely contemplative.
That it has come to this, peace under the watchful eye of submachine guns, is not a victory but defeat.
Yes, I know it’s ‘You’re the Voice’ 😉
Six Crooked Highways 
Trenchant comment on modern society, Doug.
And, sad to say, accurate.
I hope you’re not a prophet and that it never comes to machine gun guards.
Lov e the song – and the pipes! 😉
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Glad you liked the song. John Farnham (now retired due to ill health) was one of the greatest Australian performers the rest of the world failed to appreciate.
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Modern life just gets better, don’t it? Just want to add this to the brew Doug. In 2017 our family of four, two grown up daughters and their partners took the chunnel then a train to EuroDisney in Paris. Stepped off the train and the very first sight we see is eight hawk-eyed uniformed soldiers with sub machine guns- literally the sight that welcomed us.
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I hear you but it goes way back. The first time I visited Singapore in 1973 the CBD was littered with guards carrying shotguns. 😉
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Makes me proud to be human.🙄
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Scary to imagine; even scarier to know it’s possible. Great write, fab vid! Thanks, Doug.
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Many thanks, Nancy
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(from my analytical learn-from-other-writers side of my brain), Nice ‘turn’ to your story at the very end:
“…is not a victory but defeat.“
somehow, this little coda adds to the overall enjoyment of your…. what ‘cellent word did jenne use? trenchant…perfect!
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Much appreciated, clark
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A perfect little world, on that beach, described in gorgeous detail. But those guns. We know they’re there, right from the start, and each little description of the people on the beach seems to acquire an undercurrent of darkness because of that. Your final sentence says it all.
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Many thanks, Maragret. Greatly appreciated.
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