(Written for the Monday Flash Fics Facebook Page)

                                      Serenade on the Beach

                                          By Jeff Baker

            Being a calendar model is so glamorous.

            Right then, I was sitting on a beach getting sand up my butt, listening to Eddie play the guitar. He didn’t have to actually play, he just had to sit there and fake it, but since he could play he did. Unfortunately, the only song he knew was the theme to “Gilligan’s Island.”

            Meanwhile Gary, the director, was telling us how to sit, how to smile, not to smile, how to flex, and to act like it was summer.

            It was March. Even in California it was chilly. People who don’t think it ever gets chilly on a California beach have never sat naked on one. At least Eddie had a guitar covering his front. I’d never done a nude shoot before.

            “Yeah, that’s it,” Eddie said, between choruses stranding the Millionaire and the rest on the island. “They hire us to be in the buff and they make us cover our junk.”

            “Hey, Leonard,” the director said. My name was Leo but I smiled and looked up.

            “Yes?” I said as pleasantly as possible.

            “Elevate the left leg a little,” he said. “Need to cover up your junk.”

            “See?” Eddie said smugly as I moved my leg. He went back to his playing. We needed to be modeling headphones or earplugs.

            I sighed to myself. If this was a romance novel Eddie and I would fall for each other and run off in the middle of the shoot. But I couldn’t stand the guy.

            “Okay, here we go,” the photographer said. I heard the camera clicking, a little surprised that digital cameras still clicked.

            There was a sudden wet roar. Eddie yelled. A cold wave from the ocean suddenly slapped into us. When it rolled back, Eddie and I were both sprawled on our fronts.

            “Great! Change in plans! A ‘From Here To Eternity’ themed shoot!” the Director yelled. I didn’t know if he was serious, but at least Eddie’s guitar was gone.

            Oh, well! It’s a living!

                                    —end—