“Where are the beach huts?” Chris asked turning to me as we rounded the corner from Boat Cove to Coryton Cove.

We were out for a nice walk with Chris’s cousin and his wife, who have been staying the weekend with us, and we were on our way to the locals’ favourite beach, which few of the holidaymakers know about (let’s keep it that way!). Upon a moment’s reflection Chris and I came up with the answer to his question.

“The storms!” Chris and I said simultaneously.

We carried on walking and soon noticed the strange sight of groups of people stopping in little groups by a colourful windbreak near the three surviving beach huts. As we drew closer we could see why people had been stopping; there was a board with a message on it – at the top, underlined and in capital letters, it read, NEWS FLASH. It continued:

YES, WE SURVIVED THE STORM

YES, THE OTHER 19 BEACH HUTS WERE WASHED AWAY

WE DO NOT KNOW WHEN THEY WILL BE REPLACED

THE CAFE ALLEGEDLY BURNT DOWN (ARSON) ON 25 APRIL

WE DO NOT KNOW WHEN IT WILL BE RE-BUILT BY THE COUNCIL

WE HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR DAY AT CORYTON COVE AND REMEMBER – THE SUN HAS GOT HIS HAT ON – HOORAY.

Just as we were reading the news flash a familiar face – one of the party behind the windbreak – appeared and smiled at me.

“Roma wrote it,” he said.

“Ah,” I smiled back.

It had to be the Roma who I know, the Roma who Chris and I often see out with her boyfriend, Tony the magician, when we go for cycle rides. On the other side of the windbreak were a variety of happy sunbathers lounging or sitting on sun-chairs. They were the proprietors of the only three beach huts left in Dawlish. Roma and Tony (not to be confused with “Tony Roma’s” of spare ribs fame) were sat in front of the blue beach hut. She saw me straight away (she couldn’t miss me because I was wearing a bright orange  sun-dress with white polka dots, and I had on red lipstick).

“You wrote the news flash,” I said by way of enquiring why.

“Well, Sally, people have been asking such silly questions that we just got tired of it,” Roma began and went on, “They asked things like, ‘Did you survive the storms?’, so I said, ‘No, we were dragged to the bottom of the sea!’ Then there was the other good one; someone looked at the charred remains of the cafe over there and asked me, ‘Was the cafe burnt down?”, so I answered, ‘No, it was abducted by aliens!'”

“Do you mind if I put this in my blog tonight?” I asked (thinking that you might find this as funny as I did).

“You go ahead,” she replied.

“But remember to tell people that I’m a magician,” said Tony Everest the fabulously talented (I’m sure) magician from Dawlish.

The happy band of sun worshippers were kind enough to let me take their photographs too.