Newton's first law of motion: An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an unbalanced force...
The sun caressed her face. The sand beneath her beach towel had finally shifted to the point where it cradled her curves comfortably. The dull murmur of the surf had begun to lull her to sleep, and she had finally given up trying to read the physics journal she had brought with her. She lay, eyes closed, as the shrieks of the seagulls seemed to drift farther and farther away. It was the perfect vacation.
In the distance she could hear Charlie and a group of kids enthusiastically chatter as they built sand castles twenty yards away. Not even bothering to open her eyes, she smiled. Knowing Charlie, he was lecturing them on the golden mean in architecture and the forces that made damp sand clump together. The kids would be rolling their eyes and ignoring the crazy old guy. Their parents would be watching carefully, not knowing that their kids were perfectly safe with Cal Sci's most popular professor.
She resisted the urge to open her eyes, get up and join them. Like Caesar's wife, Charlie was above reproach. He would be fine. Her mind drifted as she wondered where on earth the quote about Caesar's wife had originated. She's have to ask Larry after the summer break was over.
"Amita!" her sleep was disrupted by a shout and the sound of pounding footsteps. She sat up, wondering hazily what was going on. Before she could react, she heard a colorful expletive and a cold, wet, sand covered body slammed into her, knocking her sideways.
"Charlie! What on earth...?!"
"Sorry! Sorry! Are you okay? I tripped. I really didn't mean to..." he took her face in his cold, wet, sandy hands. "Are you okay?"
Annoyed, she pushed his hands away and brushed the sand from her face. "I'm fine. What were you thinking?"
Charlie touched her hand gently. "Obviously, my dear, I wasn't thinking. I really had no intent of becoming a living example of Newton's first law of motion."
Amita giggled. "I've never seen a better example of an unbalanced force."
