Running down the beach

A man came running down the beach this morning. Middle Aged, and as he passed I noticed a silver cap on one of his left front teeth. He was not jogging, he was running and not like he enjoyed it. He wore shorts and sneakers and a t-shirt with the words, "Devil's Little Helper". His hair was unusually long. He didn't seem to be with anyone.

You wouldn't have noticed him at all but then he kept looking over his shoulder as though he were being followed. And sure enough he was! I looked up and there was a huge monster bearing down on him, a Loch Ness monster, with the head of a dragaon and the jaws of the 'alien'. Long blasts of fire came furling out the mouth. Like something from the mind of St. George. But not just a monster following him, there were women running after him too, all naked, all very angry, throwing spears and yelling obscenities. Finally, he turned and told one of them he would see her in court and not one second sooner. At one point they nearly surrounded him, poking at him, but he darted off into the dunes.

One of these women in pursuit stopped close by. I asked her what was going on. "Can't you see? He's impossible. And now enough is enough. Do you know what he dreams at night? He keeps dreaming that he's trying to get to the Today Show. You know, NBC. And you know what?

What?

"That says it all." She looked up. I followed her eye and it turned out there were all these other things following him, clouds, moons, winged defeats, old fashioned wooden gliders, bird cages drifting like balloons, and a Baron Davis look-alike who took off his shirt and made a triumphant grimmace.

Later, this running man appeared one more time. He was still sprinting, I couldn't believe what good shape he was in. Real encouragement for men who are about to give up trying to stay in shape. I heard one of the people chasing him say they worked in the collections dept. of the W & J Sloan Company, which went out of business 40 years ago. I don't know what that was all about, I can only tell you that finally this running man ran out of sight and I didn't see him again.