Daniel Forrest, on a trip with friends, at the beach alone

Daniel Forrest was having an extraordinary run of bad luck on his vacation so far.

On the first day down the shore, after a long trip in a cramped car, Daniel had been eager to get down to the beach. So eager, in fact, that he sprained his ankle tripping over a step just inside of the freshly unlocked rental beachhouse he and his friends were staying in. He'd told his friends to go on without him, but was quietly a little hurt when they did just that. At least he got out of unpacking, and later that night Jamie had spotted him for dinner as a way of lifting his spirits. They were at the seaside, after all, and what better way to celebrate than with some fresh seafood!

On the second day, Daniel woke up in the middle of the night with food poisoning. Might have been why they were able to get a table so easily, come to think of it. Nadia stayed around a little while to be around in case he needed something, and Andrew was dealing with his own case of sunburn, while Jamie and Allison took to the boardwalk for some shopping and sight seeing. By time night fell, Daniel's stomach and ankle were both feeling better, but not so much that he didn't envy the ice cream the trio had brought back.

On the third day, the morning preparations, a bit timid in the face of the grey sky above, came to an abrupt halt once a fork of lightning cracked the sky in half and the clouds pelted the shoreline with rain for the rest of the day. This time, at least, Daniel was with friends; but he was going absolutely stir crazy- the week was half over, and he had barely done anything on his vacation trip!

Well, the fourth day of the trip, Daniel was determined to hit the waves! ... Sure, the rest of his group wasn't as eager; they had gone a bit heavy on the drink last night, cooped up as they were, but they were awake enough to say they'd catch up to him later. And so, Daniel made his way onto the beach by his lonesome, catching an only moderately crowded morning shore. As he stood there, towel spread half-hazardly across a patch of sand and t-shirt thrown to the ground, Daniel didn't look half bad. He wasn't in as good shape as he could be, but he was lean enough, and though his skin needed some color, he was hoping to fix that today. His black hair was getting a bit shaggy, but his blue and black swim trunks fit him just fine.

Of course, now that he was at the beach, Daniel wasn't quite sure of what he should try to do first....