To Dream of a Day at the Beach

by Tricia
(Pittsburgh, PA)

44. Create a made-up story using the following words: beach, Frisbee, crab, and sunscreen.

In a small town off the coast of Provincetown a young man named Zed lived with his one and only companion, Loops. Loops was a small rabbit, and was fearful of most things, like noises, the outdoors, brightly colored food, anything out of the ordinary really.

Fortunately for Loops, Zed shared these same afflictions so Loops didn't have to encounter any of these things very often. Unfortunately for Loops, Zed had a strong pull to go outside, to be "normal", to be unafraid of the world. Zed was 27. Zed had never had a human friend, and despite living his entire life on the Atlantic coast, he had never been to the beach. The beach mystified and terrified Zed, but he adored it. He wanted so badly to take Loops on a coastal adventure, but for so long he just couldn't muster the courage. He tried everyday, but the fear consumed him.

One day, Zed was searching online, like he does every day, to find some new information about a cure for all phobias. This was a special day, and he found in a peer-reviewed scientific journal that taking 50mcg of B-12 can alleviate phobias, so he rush ordered a shipment as he could not leave his house to run to the local GNC due to his agoraphobia. 48 hours later, Zed was holding a supplement in one hand and a glass of water in the other. He threw back the pill, swallowed, and waited. Oh, and he also gave Loops one. Yay!

After about half an hour, Zed believed he was already feeling the effects. So he grabbed Loops, and ran to the beach as fast as he could because he didn't know how long he had until his debilitating phobias returned. Once on the beach, he set Loops down who hopped to a little hole and pawed at it. Out of the little hole popped a magical crab. The crab granted Zed one wish which was to cure all of his ailments. Then he gave him a frisbee and said, "enjoy the beach, fearless one" and then the little crab's wife crawled out of the hole and threw a bottle of sunscreen at him and said, "and put this on, you're paler than the dickens, it's like you've never left your house!"

Zed slathered on his sunscreen and spent the best day of his life playing frisbee with his rabbit and new crab friends, which became a daily ritual for the rest of his life. The end!