"I'll just look," Roy thought. He stood by the dunes a long time. Women and girls of all ages and of all figures and shapes ambled by. Some were clad in colorful bikinis, some in nothing more than fig leaves, while some were wrapped in burkas and head scarves like mummies. Yet there he planted himself on that stretch of sand. He was just looking. No harm in looking, right? Soon he was staring. His mind wandered aimlessly. First he thought of how lousy his life was at home. Nothing but screaming kids, a screaming wife, a screaming mother-in-law, screaming sisters-in-law, and screaming nephews and nieces. His house was a zoo.

Not a single one of those who lived with him at that house seemed to ever be satisfied with anything. Each had his or her own complaints.

"Bakit si Reverend... eh, he is asking for too much money!" complained one sister-in-law. "He is never satisfied, naman eh. . ."

"Correct ka dyan," said the wife. "Maybe magbigay na lang tayo ng pamasahe niya papuntang Reno."

"Then he will ask for some gaming slot money," chimed in a nephew.

"Hoy namatay na raw si Mrs. Mildred..." announced another sister-in-law.

"That's old news. Di ba hinihimatay na siya ... since December pa?" the wife intoned.

"Hoy mahiya ka. Patay na nga wala ka pang respeto." Roy admonishingly retorted; his ears were now burning.

"At ano... I should weep? Kasalanan niya yun. Why did she die in the first place? She should have not died, di ba? Too much mah-jong and too much Cash Creek. Too much bling and too much plastic. Too much politics. Hoy bata ni Hillary Clinton yan." Roy's wife was one self-righteous woman.

Roy stared at those girls in bikinis more intently now. He counted mentally. Two were by themselves, four were just teenagers and there were a couple of buxom ladies in their early forties. He swallowed hard and wondered at the possibilities.

Temptation sat perched on his shoulders. "You can do it Roy, old man..." He heard the voice distinctly say. He scratched his ears and the back of his head. Was he hearing things? What's wrong with him anyway? The voice came back. "It don't take much Roy... a couple of drinks, a greeting or two, some smooth talk, and voila... It's a done deal man."

Roy looked down on the pavement as he walked back to his parked car. He kicked a couple of pebbles. Then he saw it. A banana peel - right there in front of him - he was about to step on it. He maneuvered around the banana peel. Close call.

His thoughts cleared up too. His eldest daughter was away attending college at Ave Maria University in Florida. She will be a doctor some day. His son is busy with finishing high school. Responsibilities and obligations filled his thoughts. He smiled as he drove away from the beach. He also shook off Temptation from his shoulders. He is a free man again.