By Jan Miller Penton

The three cousins leisurely strolled toward the beach. One was blonde, one brunette, and one with her color of the month. They laughed and chatted as they delighted in the cool temps, charming, colorful cottages, and grand homes along the streets lined with ancient towering live oaks.

They were comfortable together, as old friends are, and spoke of inconsequential things. As they walked closer to the beach they passed restaurants and bars filled with music spilling out onto the streets. Laurie began to softly hum a tune as they sauntered along soaking up the last warming rays of the sun.

As they neared “The Blind Tiger” on the beach the trio decided to sit and listen for a while. The dark haired young lady’s voice was good, and she did her best to engage her audience. Soon the cousins were singing along and taking silly selfie videos to relive the moment at a later time.

Another dark haired lady came around giving out cards with her daughter, the singer’s, name and information on it. Brenda got out her phone and texted the information to American Idol in hopes that the girl from New Orleans working the crowd might be called back for another chance to take home this year’s prize.

Jan got a look at the card and realized that the name sounded familiar and walked over to chat with the young lady’s mom.

Turns out that the extended family owned several businesses along the route to Venice where her late-husband once traveled on his way to work.

She was always interested in raking up kin so to speak, as her grandpa always seemed to do.

The party animals might have stayed a little longer, but Brenda noticed the sun moving lower in the sky. She practically squealed, “We have to get back to watch the bats come out!” And off they went retracing their steps, but this time they were on a mission to video the bats exit from their house. Brenda’s daughter, Emily, adored bats so her mom practically ran all the way back to the cottage. She wanted to capture the tiny creatures heading out for their evening meal and share it with her daughter.

Jan and Laurie didn’t quite run, but walked briskly cheering Brenda on.

“Hurry Bren, go faster, it’s almost dark!”

They made it just in time, but sadly Brenda’s battery went dead just as she started to video the big event. The rest of the evening the three ate, sang old songs, and reminisced as only people with a rich history can. They drifted off to sleep to the faint sound of music still going strong along the beachfront.

The next day Brenda and Laurie had to get back to their respective homes.

They parted with hugs and plans for their next time together since they all agreed it had been way to long. And the next evening Jan finally captured the video for Emily. Does that make her a little batty?