A Day at the Beach

By Doug Ashby

The main characters, Roscoe, Simione and Dan-Dan, are 12 year old triplet brothers who live in rural New Zealand. A forest park and coastal waters are their playground, an environment that has taught them survival skills and tests them to their limits. The special bond between the brothers is an all important ingredient in their adventures. A mysterious person appears in all six stories, a figure who the boys doubt they even saw at all.

Story two, A Day at the Beach, is set on the coast. A sudden storm blows up, and as the three boys hurry towards safety, they spy two children with a small dog on the increasingly dangerous beach. Huge waves sweep the dog out to sea. The boy and girl – will they be next?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doug Ashby
• Release date: Jun 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301754366

Book preview

Three out of Three

The adventures of Triplet Brothers

STORY 2

A Day at the Beach

by D.R.H. Ashby

Published by Mackay Books at Smashwords.

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Copyright belongs to D.R.H. Ashby 2013 ©

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Published by Mackay Books

144 Bothwell Park Road

R D 2

Waiuku 2682

New Zealand

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CHAPTER 1

From Fantasy to Frenzy

It started like any other day in many respects, but this day was particularly nice. The three brothers had been taken out to Waitahi Beach for a day's outing and a tramp over to Orakawa Bay. They had done this on many occasions before as it was one of their favourite places, the coast being so different from the valley behind their place with its huge pohutukawa, puriri and groves of nikau.

The coastal cliffs consisted mainly of low, wind-blown shrubs with strangely distorted, slanting forms and densely compacted foliage. These plants had been sculptured by the wind and salt spray, as it regularly blasted the exposed headlands from the east. However, it was the very edge of the water that held the greatest fascination. The boys always started off picking their way around the fringe of the coastal cliffs and then walking along the high tide line and finally dropping down onto the coastal platform. This relatively level and flat bench of rock was like a walkway all around the coast line, accessible mainly at low tide. It emerged straight out from the foot of the rocky cliffs; the outer ledge then dropped off very steeply into deep water. This flat area of rock was riddled with pools and channels, containing a fascinating range of sea life.

The deeper pools were beautiful and clear with their gardens of brightly coloured seaweed; some of these the boys knew, like the bright green sea lettuce and the brown Neptune's necklace. On the sides of the pool were the sea anemones with their deep red tentacles, which the boys could not resist touching. They loved to watch the transformation of this display of delicate tentacles to the defensive and almost invisible gelatinous ball that resulted when the sea anemone contracted its feeding arms.

The crabs were always a draw card, as they wedged themselves deep into the rock crevices, with their alien eyes never ceasing to stare out at the boys. It was always fun to probe them gently with sticks in order to send them scuttling sideways across the rocky surfaces.

The greatest prize of all was to find an octopus. These cryptic animals of the pools were a real highlight of any visit to the coast. It took considerable courage to handle one of these fluid creatures for the first time and even though they had done so before, the boys were still a bit tentative whenever they managed to get hold of one. It was the sudden grip of the suckers along the tentacles – so strong for such a limpid creature – that it always took the boys by surprise as they lifted the octopus from its salt water haven to get a closer look. Once the initial sense of uncertainty was over, then the thrill of holding one was enormous. It was such a bizarre sensation as the animal moved gently over their hands and arms. Even though the brothers were aware of the discomfort they were causing the octopus, their admiration and fascination with this flexible and flowing life form was irresistible and almost hypnotic. After taking turns at