Every year

The family

Goes to the

Beach

The beach

Was sandy

The water clear

Beautiful

The boardwalk

Was empty

No shops

No restaurants

Except for one

An ice cream shop

As far as anyone knew

No one went in there

Except for

A lady

With dangly earrings

And white hair

She had no

Family or friends

She always wore

A long blue dress

The lady had no name

She was just the

Ice cream lady

Because she was always there

No one talked to her

They just watched her

Through the windows

Like an animal in a zoo

But then

That summer

When the children

Raced to the beach

The lady was gone

The ice cream shop

Was empty, no one

Was there

The people didn't

Realize it

But somehow the beach

Was lonely without her

Her dangly earrings

Long white hair

Large dark eyes

Were gone

She never came back

They didn't care

The people told themselves

She was just a stranger

But a part of the magic

Of the beach was gone

The magic had left with her

Now it was simply a beach

Then one day

A woman

Sat down

In the ice cream shop

She had long dark hair

And a wispy red dress

Her lonely eyes raked the beach

Watched the happy families

The people gaped at her

Confused and bewildered

Who was she?

Why was she here?

The woman sat in there

For a whole day

Then another

Then another

But then one day

A child walked in

To the ice cream shop

He wasn't more than six

He walked across

The floor

To the woman

In her chair

He held out his hand

And asked her

Why she never played

Outside

She took his chubby hand

Her lonely eyes filled with tears

And whispered to him

That she never had a reason too

She didn't belong on the

Beautiful beach

With happy families

She explained

She wasn't part

Of a sweet couple

She was alone

She told him

The boy was confused

He didn't understand

Then he asked her to

Play with him

She said yes

And together

They walked out of

The ice cream shop

They played in the waves

Built sandcastles

She talked with the boy's parents

She was happy

And the ice cream shop

Never again

Had anyone sit inside it

No one felt like they didn't belong