PHOTO PROMPT © Peter Abbey

For everyone else, it looked like a normal December on the beach in California. Some folks still enjoyed a “too cold for me” dip in the ocean. More, like me, just wanted to walk in the semi-warm weather.

Death always haunts us since, after all, we’re mortal. However some deaths hit harder than others. Most of them are family and friends. Every once in a while, it’s a public figure that some love and others hate.

Then they seem to either get too much of one or the other, at least on social media. I’d rather be walking on sand.

It’s Wednesday and time again to participate in this week’s Rochelle Wisoff-Fields Friday Fictioneers. The idea is to use the image above as the prompt for crafting a poem or short story no more than 100 words long. My word count is exactly 100.

The photo reminded me of when I lived in Southern California some decades ago. December was sometimes warm enough to work on your tan or at least to comfortably walk on the beach (I never understood those who wanted to freeze by diving into the ocean). It’s also a great place to watch the waves come in and think.

By now, you’ve probably heard that actor and director Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle were allegedly murdered by their son Nick. On social media, there are those who insulted him, even in the face of this tragedy, because of his outspoken political views. There are many others who all but canonized Reiner as a saint for those same reason, even though his death had nothing to do with those opinions.

I remember Reiner from the 1970s TV show “All in the Family” and he directed one of my favorite movies “The Princess Bride.” I never wished harm on him, but I don’t think he’s some sort of flawless icon either.

I found out this morning that actor Gil Gerard just died of cancer at age 82. Gerard starred in the 1970s TV science fiction program “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.” The show was a little too campy for me and I only watched it off and on, but I am, after all, a science fiction fan.

I doubt Gerard’s passing will get the same attention, good and bad, as Reiner’s. I get that there are fans and fans tend to lionize their idols, but to me, at the end of the day, they’re just people. Ordinary people die of cancer every day. While not as common, ordinary families have sons who are mentally ill and drug addicted and who commit acts of domestic violence. Occasionally, other family are killed because of it.

Cover art for “Far Futures: Book Four”

It’s a good day to pull back from all that and take a metaphorical or real walk on the beach.

To read other stories based on the prompt and to post one of your own, go to inlinkz.

Fantastic Schools Familiars is available at Amazon in Kindle and paperback formats. It contains my short story “Dead Cat Fever.” If you like fantasy stories about all manner of animal and other familiars serving (or not serving) masters and amateurs of the occult, this one’s for you.

The science fiction anthology Far Futures Four is available for pre-order now for delivery to your Kindle device on December 23, 2025. It features my military SciFi short story “Awash on Titan’s Shores.”