It was far away from her family though, but she encouraged them to come and visit in the letters she had written to them since then. She wouldn’t mind hosting beach parties! But, it had taken her a while to settle in, and she had yet to explore the little tourist village that the house was a part of. And today she finally decided that she would do it! She would finally go around and look at the place! Or at least, get a better look than the small glimpse she had gotten and the few times she had to go to any of the stores. And so today, after relaxing for a bit in the morning, she set off and started to walk along the beach.
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Sandbar had already been up for most of the morning, spending a lot of it surfing before he had to get his shop all set up. Not that it was hard to set it up, after all, he really just had to remove the cover off of it and re-arrange anything that might have fallen, but he knew that he would be busy for the rest of the day, so he had to get his surfing in early!
He had lived in this tourist village his whole life, though he travelled too. This was just “home” though, and he lived here permanently. His parents ran a tourist-trap gift-shop in town and had given him the surf shop when he was old enough and they knew that they could rely on him to run it without having it burn to the ground or closing it down and running off with the money.
He had just removed the cover after some difficulty and started to set up his surf boards, a few of which were set on the outside so that ponies could have a look at them. If there was one thing he could change about the situation, was getting a pony here for a beach restaurant. Eating and surfing, who could resist?
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Serene had passed by a few other beach houses and had chatted with their owners while making her way along the beach. Soon enough though, she reached the public beach that had only just opened, and there seemed to be few if any ponies around. What caught her attention though was the colorful surfboards that were displayed outside of a surf shop and she could already feel her hooves guiding her over there.
When she got to the shop, she couldn’t help but comment on one of the surfboards, a lovely one that depicted the sunrise. “Oh wow, this looks beautiful!” She said, to herself, not knowing that anypony else would hear.
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Sandbar had heard somepony approaching, and while he was glad that he might have a customer, he still needed to finish up. It wasn’t until he heard them comment on one of the surfboards that he popped his head out and said, “It’s nice isn’t it? This one is only for display, but I have plenty of others just like it in the back! Either for rental or for ownership!” He said, looking at who had commented on the board.
It was a pretty female that he had never seen before. And he had met everypony here. Which meant she was either new or a tourist. She looked beautiful though. Her coloring was like just under the ocean’s surface and looking up at the sky. He thought it was amazing. He just had to introduce himself. “The name’s Sandbar. I’ve lived here my whole life so if you have any questions about anyplace here, then I’m your pony!” He said, giving her a smile.
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Serene had jumped a bit when the owner of the shop had come out to introduce himself, but she was quickly calmed by the fact that he was just trying to tell her about the shop. There was nothing wrong with it! Though she did say, he looked quite good. Like he belonged right at the beach. Or maybe he was made of sand? She couldn’t help but giggle. “Surfing does look interesting, but I’ve never done it before. Do you teach lessons?” She didn’t want to go out and do something dangerous without knowing!
She nodded her head. Sandbar the name fit him. “I’m Serene Seas, but you can just call me Serene. I just moved here, but I could always use some help getting to know the area.” If he really was as knowledgeable as he said he was, then he should be able to give her a nice tour!
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Sandbar grinned. “I do give lessons yes, but unfortunately I often have a lot of work I need to do here at the shop, so I can’t give them too often. Other ponies are usually willing to help the surfer newbies when I can’t though.” He sighed. He had been thinking about hiring somepony else to help him run the shop, but he was just nervous about leaving it in the hooves.
“But I usually take a break in the afternoon for some surfing, if you want to try then?” He hoped she did. And then afterwards they could maybe go to the restaurant to talk for a bit…
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Serene giggled. She could see that he was eager to talk to her. And well, she certainly didn’t mind it! “That sounds good! But uh, if you’re looking for someone to help, maybe I could? Since I just moved here I don’t have a job yet and even though I don’t need one yet, I could always volunteer! I have some experience running small booths, a shop wouldn’t be much harder.” She said, taking a look at it and nodding. “Would you… like to talk about it over some lunch or dinner? When you’re available that is.” She said, blushing a bit.
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Sandbar was surprised at Serene’s suggestion, and almost flabbergasted at her dinner idea, but he wasn’t going to say no! “That sounds great! We could talk it over dinner tonight but can’t do it during the day since I have to run the shop. But how about this, you can rent a surfboard for now, and get a few lessons in with some of the other ponies who live here today if you want, and then we can go and eat once I close? I know a great place that has some awesome seaweed and veggie wraps?”
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“I think that’s a great idea. And that place sounds delicious. I look forward to dinner.” Serene said, happy that she was meeting someone new already and that she could at least be friends with. Together, they exchanged information and Serene got to practice on the surfboard for a bit during the day, though she was excited for dinner later that night…
