AUTHOR: linda TITLE: Story about beach pirates DATE: 7:23:00 PM ----- BODY:

Not long before sunset on Friday, Rex and me journeyed out to enjoy some lazy-day surf and the cleanest sand in all of LA: Zuma Beach.

It was a lovely spot to park books, blanket and sandwiches to relax for a while, though a bit overcast and empty -- or, at least empty of humans, but full of the ever-scavenging beach pirates.

Yes, true to tell, it happened not 100 feet from where we sat -- the beach pirates staged an amazing display of mutiny over an abandoned picnic blanket, out of sight and left unmanned while its owners boogie-boarded on the far-off surf.

First, a brazen scout swooped in and diligently pushed and pecked at a standing wicker basket until a hidden and sealed bag of chips tossed itself out. Once these efforts produced booty, fellow pirates quickly gathered, squawked away by the scout until....



... several more landed to take action. Circling the bag in a frenzied fashion, the pirates quickly had the prize surrounded, and joined beaks together in poetic gluttony to move in for the kill...



... with a collective crack and snap of the sealed bag, the garish group devoured all contents in an instant.



Soon, one of the blanket-humans returned to the site of slaughter, only to see a few stragglers prancing about, near the remnants of what was once a Kettle Chips snack-sized treat.



The end.

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