Beach combing...I make my morning walk along the sandy beach listening to the waves lap at the shore all the while keeping an eye out for some small treasure to adopt and take home with me. I've done this most of my life and always found something of interest to explore everytime I survey the water's edge scrutinizing the flotsam and jetsam along the way....But...today was different..something special.... if it were not for the gulls dive bombing for something in the foamy surf I may have missed it.. There was no way of telling how long it had been there OR how it got there...but i was amused to have found it none the less. It was very different from anything I had found before...believe me I have found many things along the tidewater's edge, sand dollars, shells, hermit crabs, coins, fishing rod and reel, radio, pail and shovel, sunglasses, suntan oil and sunscreen, umbrella, ring, watch, driftwood, the usual sea creatures, some alive some dead...eating implements and drink containers including cups, mugs and glasses...Once I even found an unused condom still in its wrapper, hmmm, wonder how that worked out ..stranger still, a collapseable portable john, and once what appeared to be a trap door with the door frame...Still this was different...if you have ever fished along the Gulf Coast, you know that all manner of things wash up and get pulled up. Once I was trying to reel in something with a lot of fight after a couple of minutes the fight was gone but I still had something heavy on the line, Once I got it topside I discovered I had just caught the swim ladder off of the backend of someone's boat...large boat at that, wonder how long that's been down there, wonder if they want it back......wonder how long before the next person finds it.....wonder if the boat is down there as well.....
Realizing that ol Sol is trying to do a number on my exposed skin and feeling parched with thirst I snatch up the salt encrusted trophy and make a beeline for the nearest spot to slake my thirst. Something cold, sweet and full of citrus should do the trick. As I gaze across the horizon at the puffy white clouds spotting the deep blue sky and contemplate going for shrimp, I decide its time to dicover more about the item I pulled from the briny surf. Just then a gorgeous young lady walks by and exclaims "Oh how neat, where did you get that" whereupon I tell her about how I beach comb most every day. She examines it closely and says "What's that inside" ... I don't know" I said. "I was just about to open it when you walked up." She introduced herself and handed me some sunscreen and told me I was beginning to turn a little red. I offered her a cold beverage and we decided to seek out some shade and investigate the item in question....
Relaxing in the shade on the white sand, I handed the thing to her and asked if she would like to do the honors ... "What is it?" she asked, "I don't really know" I replied. It looked like some sort of bottle shaped crock made of carnival glass and crockery, very colorful and oddly shaped. The top was encased in some sort of rubbery substance and beneath that was a coating of wax....strange indeed. Etched in the bottom was the number 42..."the answer to life, the universe and everything" I thought but I was to discover that it would actually get weirder. "Here goes..." she said and proceeded to remove the exterior coating and open the mysterious container. The top finally came off with a pop like it had been sealed for a very long time. Inside was something that was to change my life forever...my spine tingled as we removed the contents. The brochure was like new, it said "Visit the Mississippi Gulf Coast" and showed some great pictures of the beach, seafood, boats, casinos, and various other events and landmarks of interest along highway 98 on the coast and on the back it said "Book your stay now at the Beau Rivage Hotel and Casino. With this was a matchbook, old and faded, the cover said "You to can walk with Him, talk with Him and quite frankly get stinking rich with Him"...on the inside it continued "Enroll now in the (close cover before striking) School of Ministry and Heavy Machinery and become the True light of the World...across this someone had scrawled "Play the wheel", attached to the matcbook with a plastic clip was a chip from the Beau Rivage Casino and a twenty dollar bill, the bill however was from the future... we looked at each other astonished and decided to make our way to the casino.
Once inside the casino we went over to the roulette wheel. "What number" she asked and I reminded her of the number forty-two etched into the container bottom... we placed the chip on #42 and the man spun the wheel... it spun rather fast and then the little white marble popped in to the bowl of numbers, bouncing every time it touched the wheel.... and then, ......................... then I woke up.
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