Hit the Beach Read Online Free PDF Page B

the beach. It was a little too hot, even for the locals. There was a slight breeze along the water, however, that made the temperature more bearable. Madison figured it was just a matter of getting used to things. After a short time, she was actually beginning to like the heat. It helped that Stephanie had lent her a large straw hat that kept the bright sun off Madison’s face.
    Stephanie already had a flawless tan. She worked out at the gym every day, and her browned skin accentuated the look of her curves and muscles. Madison thought Stephanie looked a little bit like a model, especially in her white bikini and flashy green sarong. Sometimes Madison wondered how Dad could have married someone who was so different—who looked so different—from Mom.
    Madison looked down at her own bathing-suit top. It was polka-dotted with a gold loop tied at the center. She’d found it on the sale rack at the mall just the week before, when Mom and she had gone shopping together for her camp stay. The bottoms were more like shorts than bikini pants. Madison liked the way it fit.
    “Look!” Stephanie cried, pointing ahead of them on the sand.
    A clear, corked bottle had washed up on the shore. Madison raced over to it and looked inside.
    “Oh, wow!” Madison cried, breathlessly. “There’s something inside!” She fingered the cork, but it wouldn’t come out. Stephanie came over to help. She was able to wedge the cork out with a loud pop .
    The two exchanged excited glances.
    “What do you think it is?” Stephanie asked Madison.
    “A note! A real note in a bottle!” Madison cried.
    Stephanie stuck her fingers inside and grabbed the note with a long fingernail. Madison was so excited about the discovery that she started jumping up and down.
    “What does it say? What does it say?” Madison asked.
    Stephanie unraveled the note. It smelled a lot like fishy seawater, although it was as dry as a bone. The ink was not smudged, but the handwriting was very sloppy.
To someone else:
    I am at the beach w/ my family and thought it would be fun 2 write in a bottle just like this. So here I am in the Bahamas and where r u? Send me a note back in a bottle 2, ok? I will be waiting.
    Bye,
    Jonas
    “I’ll be waiting?” Madison furrowed her brow. “That doesn’t make any sense. Does it?”
    Stephanie laughed. “Looks like someone was having a bit of fun,” she said. “I’ll bet Jonas is on vacation with his parents—and bored.”
    “But he actually thinks someone will write back to him in another bottle?” Madison asked.
    “Apparently so,” Stephanie replied. “Silly boy.”
    Madison and Stephanie looked at each other and burst into laughter.
    Although Madison was tempted to shove the note back into the bottle and toss the bottle back into the sea, she didn’t. Instead, she clutched it in one hand. She decided to keep it. She wanted to write about it in one of her files. Maybe the bottle was a good omen.
    The sand felt gritty under Madison’s toes as she and Stephanie walked further down the beach. By now, they had collected not only a conch shell, the note in the bottle, numerous shards of beach glass, and smaller shells, but they’d also found thirty cents, an old silver barrette, and a lot of seaweed. They were careful to sidestep the little patches of tar on the beach.
    An hour later, Stephanie suggested that they go on to Lemon Drop for some food and drink. Madison was parched. No sooner had they sat down than she drank an entire glass of water in one gulp.
    The waitress took their orders and then brought two extra-large glasses of lemonade.
    “I am so glad you’re here, Maddie,” Stephanie said, “and I know your dad is glad, too.”
    “Is that why he’s at work? On a Sunday ?” Madison said. She hadn’t meant to sound snappish, but that was the way it came out.
    Stephanie frowned. “It couldn’t be helped, Maddie,” Stephanie explained. “He’s in some negotiations with a client this week. You know