Ted Getzel Works

BOOM

Kate G and Henry Wolfe were walking south along the beach, dancing on the white sand away from the foamy fingers of the cold March Atlantic as it reached out ahead of the rising tide. It was late afternoon. The low sun was angling into their eyes from the right clouding their vision. The sky was clear and the Atlantic was calm; both the color of gray blue of Pennsylvania slate. Red and white Barnegat Light was behind them. Henry had his right arm around Kate’s waist; her left hand rested on his left shoulder, from her right hand swung a bag containing coffee and milk. They were the only on the beach. A sharp northwest breeze cut through Henry’s Woolrich black and red checked woolen jacket. He shaded his eyes with his left hand against his brow.

“You see that? “ He asked. He pointed into the distance down the waterline.

“What?” she asked

“A black dot just above the beach it’s getting bigger headed our way.”

“Yeah, I see it – it turned from black to silver!”

They both froze staring at what they now recognized as an airplane, doubling in size by the second, coming straight at them skimming low along the waterline. Silence except for the sound of a flag snapping on a pole in front of a house that loomed over the dune. Snap. Snap, snap the plane filled the sky above them. They staggered backwards a step or two – it was so low it seemed they could touch if they dare. It passed in silence the afterburner glowing in its rear. Shrinking in size with each….

It wasn’t a sound. You hear a sound. This was like a giant hand reaching from Hell smacking the back of your head in the most primitive spot and knocking you down then rubbing your face in cold sand. Then it slapped you again. They knew they were alive because their hearts were pounding like jackhammers. They lay there in the sand not moving for a couple of minutes.

“That’s a sonic boom, “said Henry as he slowly got up and began to brush the sand off himself. He pointed north the direction in which the plane had disappeared, “and that was F4 Phantom the best jet fighter in the world.” He grabbed Kate’s hands and helped her up, then gave her a hug. She picked up the bag. He picked up a couple of likely looking pieces of driftwood for the Franklin stove. He had picked a fight with the United States Government and that government just proved it could knock him flat on his face without even touching him.