Stabbing the Jellyfish

I knew I had to wake up eventually. My muscles were tensed and sore and I could hear the children screaming and running close by. Something exciting had happened.
I followed the kids over to a giant dark gray slimy looking thing lying on the beach near the water. A small crowd had gathered around it and everyone was talking excitedly in Greek. I asked, “What is it? What’s happening?” To no one in particular to see if anyone would answer. A man next me explained, “It is a jellyfish.”
I had never seen a jellyfish I real life. I had seen the cute little purple things on TV and this looked nothing like that. It was about the size of a beach ball and was laying on what appeared to be its back. It was shiny and dark gray and was twitching slightly. I felt bad for the poor jellyfish and assumed the kids would push it back into the ocean. But apparently this was an abnormally large and interesting jellyfish. The kids all found stick and began poking at the jellyfish. And not just poking at it, The Boy was on the front lines and took his long thin stick and slowly pushed it deep in to the jellyfish, where I can only assume its heart was.
Little kids began throwing sand and cigarette butts at it as the other kids began pushing sticks deep into its belly. The adults stood around, watching the kids maim the immobilized but still wriggling jellyfish. I backed from the group and started towards the ocean. I felt sick.

Sleep Attack

We were going to the beach. Again. I realized these people go to the beach every single day.
And I was starting to get exhausted. The kind where you’re not just tired, you can feel your brain melting into your head and everything’s 10 times harder than it should be. So they packed up all their stuff, then packed me up like a mule with all their bags and toys and things and we headed to the beach. I already told you about how the beach is a lot of them running around screaming, and me following after them silently and getting scolded for not making them all talk in English. So I had had it today. I was so tired. I was exhausted of these kids, exhausted of trying. And I didn’t want to get in that freezing cold water again. So my survival skills kicked in. While they were all running around screaming and the moms were gossiping with each other in their push –up bikini tops, I laid down on one of the chairs and closed my eyes. I can’t nap. I’ve never been able to no matter how tired I am. But I knew if they thought the poor American was so tired from jet lag she had fallen asleep at the beach they would probably leave me alone. So I laid there with my eyes closed pretending to be asleep. I could hear them all talking and running around me, and my body was becoming uncomfortable from the twisted position I was sit laying in the reclining beach chair. But nothing would have gotten me to open my eyes. If a meteor had fallen into the ocean and everyone had started running and screaming and eating each other I would have kept my eyes closed. I don’t know how long I laid there, uncomfortable, pretending to be asleep, it had to be at least an hour. But eventually I knew I would have to “wake up” and deal with them. And the giant jellyfish that was about to be discovered.