Making Lemonade WC: 289

Making Lemonade

Abe and Martha were basking in the sun on Waikiki Beach, sipping their Pina Coladas.

Suddenly, the sky grew angry, the temperature plummeted, and the wind turned gale-force.

“What in the Sam Hill, Martha?” Abe said as he held onto the beach umbrella to keep it from blowing away.

“This happens at home, not in Hawaii,” Martha said as she struggled to her feet and scooped up her beach towel and bag.

They hurried toward the Royal Hawaiian—their party drinks tipped over in the sand.

“Snow! What the heck!” Abe yelled over the wind.

“Some vacation!” Martha yelled back. “What’s that up ahead?”

“Our hotel.”

“No, Abe, not that.”

A large tree had been pulled out by the roots and was blocking the sidewalk. Abe tried to help Martha over it but couldn’t. A hotel worker came to the rescue.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” the young man said as he helped the two senior citizens over the obstacle.

Disgruntled sun-bathers littered the lobby, talking to the walls. “No flights in or out.” “I want a refund!” “This is no vacation.” “I heard we’re getting twelve inches of snow.”

Abe and Martha made their way past the complainers to their room on the 4th floor.

“Well, sweetie,” Abe said as he rummaged around in the closet, “We can do one of two things. We can groan and moan like these other folks, or we can make lemonade.”

“Let’s make lemonade.”

“And if we break our hips, Martha, it’ll be a great story to tell the grandkids.”

An hour later, they walked through the crowded lobby in the Minnesota winter gear they had worn on the plane--two boogie boards in tow-- on their way to the slopes.