California Dreaming

Daily Flash Fiction Challenge (use the words barrel, beach, guitar)

His shift was over and the beach was closing, but Gary couldn’t bring himself to leave. Lazing in his lifeguard chair he strummed his guitar, humming the Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” while, out of habit, scanning the water for signs of trouble. What his senses took in was pure California. The sun hovered low over the Pacific’s horizon, the gentle breezes carried the scent of suntan oil and salt, a shapely young woman was flailing in the water trying to get his attention…

Gary traversed the sand in seconds. Diving into the water, his powerful strokes quickly carried him toward the drowning damsel in distress. Soon he’d once again save the day, and if things worked out, get the girl. He was mentally formulating a witty one-liner for when he heroically brought the girl to shore when he was unexpectedly barrel rolled and pulled under by a rogue wave.

Disoriented, Gary popped to the surface, frantically searching for the girl. He spotted her thirty yards away, still flailing, and with a giant wave bearing down on her from behind. His muscles strained as he sprinted toward her, the rush and roar of the wave filling his world. He reached her just as the wave, flush with the ocean’s grit and grain, crested. “Hold on!” he yelled as they were swallowed by the sea.

“Hold on! Dammit, Gary, hold on!”

“Hold on!” ordered the fireman, as he hoisted Gary from a sea of corn kernels. A winch lifted the rescuer and Gary, clutching a small sow, from the grain silo’s bowels.

“Third time this winter he’s been swimming in the corn,” the farmer told the fire chief working the winch, his breath frosting in the cold Iowa air. “Boy’s just not cut out for the farm, I guess.”

300 words