Paradise Found
To the people who lived and played on the beach he was known as Willie the hermit. A short distance down the beach from the new ocean view homes and the trendy shops, he lived alone in a small wooden shack. The old man was small and thin and his silver hair reached his almost to his shoulders. He always wore white t shirts and khaki pants and a pair of white tennis he saved for his weekly trek up the beach to the store for supplies. The clerks at the store knew him when he came to buy his cans of food, botteled water. He would stop at the magazine stand and look over the new comic books carefully choosing which ones he would buy and then make the long walk home with his purchases alone.
In the mornings he could be seen on the beach fishing or simply sitting and staring into the ocean. In the afternoons he sat on the beach chair in front of his house listening to the his radio he always tuned it to the oldies station, reading a comic book from his collection or simply dosing in the warm sunlight. Sometimes a curious tourist or a child would come by and ask to hear the old stories of his adventurous some would say wasted youth stranded on a distant tropical island. He would tell them tales a three hour tour that turned into fateful trip. Of friend ship and survival. .
When he napped in the afternoon sometimes he would dream of a another beach palm trees and a warm lagoon . He would began walking up the beach and catch sight of a cluster of small thatch huts. He would hear familiar voices talking in the in the distance and smell fish cooking over an open fire. But every time he got close enough , he would awaken.
On a particular warm afternoon he lay in his beach chair thinking idle thoughts of old friends that had gone before And of regret .Of a dark haired farm girl. He had never told her his true feelings. There had been calls and letter over the years. They had once been close, but drifted apart over the years as people tend to do. He lay back for a nap. He was tired. So very tired. He closed his eyes and went off to sleep. He was back at the lagoon ,walking towards the cluster of huts. He felt young again as he began to walk faster this time. He looked down and saw that he was wearing his old red shirt that had been lost for a long time. He looked at his reflection in the water, at his short dark hair and sailor cap. He ran down the beach this time made it to the camp. A large man in a blue shirt and hat came out and gave him a hug . They were all there. All of the friends he had missed. A young pretty girl with dark pigtails came up to him. "Are you ready to stay with us forever now". He was. When the old man was found laying in front his home later he had a peaceful satisfied look on his face. No ne could explain why.