They came by the hundreds. Moving across the burning sands they made their way to the water's edge. There, packed shoulder to shoulder like horses herded to a fence line they waited their turn for relief.
As the front row stumbled and dove into the nearly placid ocean, a second and then third row moved into place. Splashing and shouting the ocean goers moved deeper, making room for those who still waited on the sand.
Had someone shouted shark the warning would have been to no avail. For those in the water there would have been no turning back - the wall of those still pressing in would have prevented escape
I could not help but make a comparison to the National Geographic films showing penguins leaping into the ocean by the thousands - a mass of warbling black and white surging into the water.
Only today it was people, not penguins who stood rocking from one foot to another, working their way inexorably to the ocean. The went not in search of food, but in search of relief from triple digit heat indexes and sand that singed bottoms of feet.
And when at last that tide of humanity turned, allowing those first in to return to shore, they came with shouts of triumph and smiles of relief.
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