The sand squeaked as I ran along, such a weird combination of firm and soft. The beach was pock-marked with footprints. I dodged onto an expanse that had none and tried to imprint where I was so I could look for my marks on the way back. Did I run as bandy-legged as I walked? Where waves came in gently, I ran down close to the edge, away from all the others. People were on their evening parade, often hand in hand, but sometimes with the woman blissfully following their determined husband striding in front of them. Other pairs and singletons were on the run, red and sweaty and more often than not, iPod-ed. Still others were walking their dog, eyes on the blazing colours of the setting sun. As I passed a condo, a child blew a rude honk from a conch shell, the traditional salute to the sunset.
Many had not noticed the humpback whale parallelling my run along the shore, but the further I went, the more aware people became. The lifeguards were warning the heads bobbing in the water. "Please get out of the water immediately!" The whale was only 50m offshore, and a large part of me wanted to swim out to it, or at least submerge beside it to see if it was singing.
"I'm taking my whale for a run" I said to people as I ran by them. "I'm not so sure he'll turn around when I do though."
He didn't.
When I got back to my start place I took off my shoes and shorts and settled them into a neat pile far from the water. I let the sand wedge between my toes as I ran into the surf and dove into a wave. I submerged to listen to the hauntingly joyous sound of whale song telling of the funny human parade witnessed.
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