Keep going and get away from the crowd

(chapter originally by rojoa at writing.com)

The trail is still climbable and will take Isabel away from the beach crowd and towards home. She continues to climb. Barefooted, she's able to get a better footing and soon is at the top lip of the trail.

It is much steeper than she remembers and she wonders if this is the same trail she's taken in the past. The only way up is to push her hands into a crevice and to do almost a pullup, crawling up an inch at a time. She looks back and is glad to see that no one is watching her difficult and embarrassing climb.

With more struggle her head pushes above the hill and she clings to the grass atop the summit. Wet sand clings to her body. With her next crawl towards the top she feels the band of her bikini bottoms slide down, baring the top of her butt.

They seem to be caught on something that she can't see. Isabel turns around to loosen then and feels her footing start to slip and she knows she'll slide down the hill if she continues.

With no other options she crawls, feeling her bikini bottoms slide down with each move, first to the bottom of her hips, exposing her hips, then to her knees. She bends one knee and keeps pushing up, hoping for the best. As she makes it to the summit she feels the bikini hanging from one ankle that's dangling over the edge. With her final pull it slips off her foot leaving her naked.

Isabel remembers how quickly her towel drifted away. On her hands and knees and facing towards the ocean she grabs a branch and looks for her bikini bottoms. They are nowhere to be found.

"Where are your clothes?" she hears. She turns quickly and is so shocked she forgets to cover up her nudity for a moment. A male sheriff's deputy watches her expectantly. Had she noticed the car next to the road, she would have run for cover. "Um, I...my suit. I lost it. It was right there and now it's gone" "This isn't a nude beach. We find rule breakers like you all the time"

Before Isabel can come up with a more convincing explanation, she feels a handcuff close to one of her arms. "I'll take you in. We'll find something for you to wear at the station"

What should Isabel do next?