Space Oddity

Ah, Brista! Nice little seaside town near the Pacific Ocean. About two-hundred people lived here, not counting the tourists. Brista was always busy during the summer. Lucy managed to convince the crew to help her out for the weekend. Muriel looked around her as they got out of the van.

“Wow!” she whispered. The old biddy turned to Lucy.

“Is this place real?” she asked. Lucy turned to her, smiling.

“Yep!” she said. “Beautiful, etn’t et?” Pauline frowned. Her grammar is just as bad as her aunt’s!, she thought. Clyde stood beside her niece, smiling.

“Exactly!” she said. Lucy giggled.

“She seems better now,” Lewis said.

“Yeah,” Lucy replied. “All thanks to you.” Lucy clapped her hands together. “Now,” she said. “Shall we get going?” The younger woman turned and walked off. Clyde followed behind, grinning. The other three shrugged and walked behind.

Lucy led them all the way to the beach. She took off her sandals and stepped on the sand. She breathed in the sea air.

“I’m home!” the young woman announced. She turned to the old biddies. “Come on,” Lucy said. “This is your home this weekend too.” Clyde grinned at her.

“Yeah!” she yelled.

“So, where is your hut?” Lewis asked. Lucy turned to her.

“Follow me!” she boomed. The young woman led the older ones further down the beach. They did their best to keep up.

“Slow down!” Pauline cried. “I’m getting sand in my shoes!”

“Then take them off!” Muriel yelled.

“That’s disgusting!” the rich lady cried. “It’s sandy!”

“Of course!” Lewis yelled. “We’re on the beach!”

“It’s too dirty!” Pauline whined.

“Then why would you dress up today?” Muriel asked. The rich friend shrugged at her.

“Old habit?” she suggested.

“We’ll ‘hat were stupid!” Clyde said. Smack!

“Ow!” the dirty old biddy wailed. “’Hat hurt!” Pauline held her purse of her head.

“Speak properly!” she barked. Clyde stuck out her tongue.

“No!” she said. Pauline frowned at her. She looked down at her lit cigarette and Clyde’s tongue for a long moment.

“Don’t…” Muriel murmured. Pauline glared at her.

“It’s tempting!” her eyes told her.

“Hey!” Lucy shouted up ahead. “Here it is! Come on!” The old biddies tried to hurry up the sandy hill. Poor Pauline ended up taking off her shoes after all.

“These were my favorite pair!” she complied. Lewis patted her on the back.

“Come on,” she said. “You will live!” Pauline pouted. Muriel walked forward to the hut.

“Wow!” she gasped. It felt like an island paradise inside. Despite it being small, the dry grassy inside looked inviting. Lucy walked over to the front desk. She looked over at the clock on the back wall.

“Okay,” she said. “We have ten more minutes to open.” The younger woman turned to the old biddies. “Here’s what I need you to do: Pauline, you will greet people at the entrance. Muriel: You help out with the drinks. Lewis: You hand out the flyers. Aunt Clyde: You clean the dishes. Got it?”

“Right!” the old biddies said. Lucy glanced at the clock again. Five… Four… Three… Two… One!

“Time for business!” Lucy yelled. Lewis flipped the hut sign to open. Then, work began.

Pauline:

The rich old biddy frowned as she looked around on the beach. So many young people around her. She tried to make herself smile.

There are too many young people here, she thought. The first customers were a young couple in their twenties walking towards her. Pauline put on her best smile.

“Welcome!” she cheered. “How are you today?” The couple gave her an odd look.

“Thirsty,” the man said. Pauline still tried to smile.

“Oh,” she said. “Well, you’ve come to the right place!” The couple looked at her, blankly. Pauline still kept smiling at them.

“Come on in!” she said. The old biddy pushed them in before they had a chance to protest. She giggled to herself in discomfort.

I am not cut out for this…, Pauline thought. Why am I even here?

Lewis:

The farmer didn’t have much of an easy time herself. Lewis wasn’t really good with people outside of her group. Plus, this beach had mostly young people today. Lewis frowned to herself a bit.

I can see why Pauline felt out of place, she thought. Oh well, time to work. Lewis walked around the beach, handing out flyers. Who would the target audience be? Who was Lewis kidding herself? There was only one type of group to attract.

She came over to the first young couple she spotted. They looked up at her with a puzzled look on their faces.

“Yeah?” the young man asked. Lewis forced herself to grin.

“Uh…” she said. “You thirsty?” The man narrowed his eyes at her.

“No…” he said.

“Want a snack?” the old biddy asked.

“No,” he said. Lewis smiled at him.

“Smashing!” she said. “I have just the place!” The couple looked at her with puzzled looks on their faces.

“Uh… we’re just here on vacation, mate,” the man said. “Could you leave us alone?” Lewis just ignored him. She reached into the shoulder bag and handed them a flyer.

“Okay,” she said. “If change your minds, come by this place.” The couple looked at the piece of paper. The man lowered his shades.

“Sandy Love?” he asked. “I thought it was closed this year.” Lewis shook her head.

“Nope,” she said. “It’s open for business.” The farmer biddy leaned, grinning.

“Bye!” she whispered. Then, she headed off to look for more people to hand out flyers to.

Muriel:

The mischievous old biddy looked around.

“So, what are we supposed to do?” she asked. Lucy turned to her.

“It’s simple,” she said. “Just crush ice and mint leaves and I’ll take care of the fruits and juices.” Muriel slowly nodded.

“Okay…” she mumbled.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Lucy said. “Hang on!” She walked over to the radio and turned it on. Rolling Stones filled the hut. The manager gave the old biddy a little smile.

“You like this type of music?” she asked. Muriel shook her head.

“Not really,” she replied. Lucy frowned.

“Pity,” she said.

“But my neighbor’s niece loves them,” Muriel said.

“Really now?” the younger woman asked. “How old is she?” The old biddy took a moment to think about that question.

“Fifteen,” she said.

“Oh,” Lucy replied. “That young? Wow.”

“Ladies!” Pauline called. Lucy and Muriel looked up. Pauline walked up with the first couple in front of her.

“First customers!” she said aloud. Lucy turned to the other old biddy.

“Time to work,” she said. “You remember what I said?” Muriel blinked at her for a moment.

“I think…” she said. The manager smiled at her.

“You’ll do fine,” Lucy announced. “Time to work.” Muriel tried to smile. The manager walked over to the new customers. The old biddy looked at the ice and leaves on the cutting board before her.

“Okay then…” she mumbled. She picked up the knife and started on the leaves.

Clyde:

By afternoon, the hut’s business began to pick up a little bit. Muriel and Lucy kept the drinks flowing for the customers. Pauline and Lewis kept drawing them in. And Clyde? She just had to rinse the cups and plates. The dirty old biddy frowned to herself.

Boring!, she thought. Clyde peeked out at the people going in and out.

Why am I stuck doing this?, she thought. The old biddy even predicted what Pauline would say.

“You would scare off the customers with your dirty looks!”

Clyde sneered to herself. Snob!, she thought. If only Nicholas Grey was here right now. Oh, Nicholas! How much she loved him so! Nicholas…

“Auntie!” Lucy yelled. “We need more cups!” Clyde returned to reality and frowned.

“Coming!” she called. The old biddy dunked the cups and plates in the water and dried them off. She carried them all the way to the front.

Lucy:

Her first day solo turned out rather smoothly. Gavin dumped her weeks before opening season. He told her that she would be doomed without him. The young hippie smirked to herself.

This’ll show him!, she thought. Too bad her aunt and her friends had to leave tomorrow.

“Lucy!” she heard Pauline yell. “There’s someone to see you!” The manager looked up and who did she see? Gavin walked into the hut at around closing time. His ex frowned at him.

“And what do you want?” she asked. He leaned over on the counter.

“Look, babe! I’m sorry!” he said. Lucy narrowed her eyes at him.

“And?” she asked.

“You can do great without me here,” her ex said.

“And?”

Gavin took in a deep breath. “And I love you!” The old biddies turned to the manager.

“Well, what’cha say?” her aunt asked. Lucy frowned to herself.

“We’ll see!” she said. Then, she turned and away to the beach house that she lived near the hut. Gavin looked at the old biddies in unease as they smirked at him. Clearly they were on her side here.

Oh, What a Night

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