Written for Muse on Monday where David
asks us to write a story where an animal
is a key character. Hereβs my take,
a gift for Colette’s 6th birthday.
Tag: Adventures
Paradise Found
Written for The Unicorn Challenge where we ar1
asked to get creative in 250 words or less using
the photo below as inspiration. This is my story.

Eastern-most Long Island, New York. A little village called Montauk. βThe Endβ, according to locals. Drive to the tip of the peninsula, walk a few steps and youβre in the Atlantic Ocean β¦ literally.
1984 was our first visit. βLetβs go out for a weekend. If we donβt like it, we wonβt go back.β Famous last words. We stayed at a no frills family motel on the beach; it was paradise.
Step outside the motel and watch your toes disappear into the sand. Big pool filled with sunburned families having the time of their lives. Huge towels and colorful umbrellas cover the beach.
An old salt regales us with tales about the first German U-boats arriving off Montauk in June, 1942. Psyched, we ride our bikes to the lighthouse where we discover WWII bunkers buried deep in the woods.
Montaukβs pizza place and ice cream joint are constantly busy. Drive five minutes west on βthe stretchβ to a place known simply as βLUNCHβ for a mouth-watering lobster roll or puffers and chips.
At night little fires dot the beach, glowing and crackling. Kids stab marshmallows with long sticks and plunge them into the flames for a gooey sweet treat that wonβt be eaten again till next summer. Our boys’ hair is sun-streaked, skin bronzed, feet perpetually coated in sand. Theyβre happy as clams.
In time we started renting a house with a pool; vacations lasted six weeks; 35+ years of unforgettable family memories made, Montauk style.
Man, it was paradise!
NARΒ©2024
250 Words

The Memory Motel has been a fixture in Montauk since the mid-1920s. When the Rolling Stones were out at the east end, they would visit the bar at the motel for some heavy drinking, dancing, shooting pool, tussling, scuffling, and playing the only piano in town until sunrise.
This is βMemory Motelβ by the Rolling Stones.
https://youtu.be/FJ4be-0Nt0s?si=mP0lpYtWe2zg_AFA
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