Keep a spare

 Blustery southerly on the beach hitting the walking party as they made their way up the beach.
The dogs jogged slowly around the group. Gossip sprung up and subsided, and more serious conversation overlapped it.
They had brought two dogs with them that would play all along the way up the beach, oblivious to weather and the rising inflation. Just movement and excitement.
It distracted the walkers from the horrid cold conditions.

Then on cue the bad news raised it's ugly head.
"What do you think the government is going to do about the inflation" Ruby tested.
"They certainly can't make it any worse." Bruce matter of factly.
"It's like they haven't learned anything in the last fifty years." Janet added.
The elonquent complaining continued for about twenty meters.

"Oh look there are gulls over there" another one of the walkers changing the subject again.
The Gulls shrieked.
The sky was ashlike ranging from a dirty white to an insipid black and every gray between.
"They don't seem to be having any problem in the wind." Bruce observed.
"I think they do better in it" Ruby said.
"It's a lot harder on us though, my leg is really hurting I think I am going to go back." Janet appealed.
"Are you sure? It's only another three hundred meters till the end." Ruby asked
"Yeah, I'm actually in a lot of pain right now."
The group briefly farewelled her.

As Janet walked back to the car a few tears came rolling down, one hitting her thigh and making out a tiny shade in her sweat pants. Just left of her hand as she pushed on her thighs to help her climb the last little sand dune before reaching the carpark.
The blustery wind and the unnatural cold in the middle of summer contributing the general feeling of lowness.
She got to the car, a smile almost formed on her face as she anticipated enjoying a hot tea when she got home. She dug into her pockets for the key, nothing.
She took off her sweatshirt which she'd tied around her waist.
The keys had been in the sweatshirt pocket and at some point spilled out onto the beach.
"Blast" she screamed, another tear forming at the corner of her eye.
Slight panic replaced the pain in her leg. She made her way back to the beach.

"Guys, I've lost my keys, I can't get home"
"Don't worry janet, lets form up in a line and retrace our steps" Bruce said
Some of the walkers didn't seem too keen on that, anything out of routine was unwelcome after seventy.
They spent longer searching for her keys, than they would have on the entire duration of their walk.
"No dice" Ruby said as they had walked all the way back to the carpark.
Janet felt a sinking feeling as she looked at her friends tired faces.
They all went off to enjoy their morning tea and coffee at the local cafe.
However arriving late, their table was no longer available. They'd spent too long searching for Janet's stupid keys many in the group thought.
"Fuck it" Bruce swore under his breath.

They separated into two separate tables which made things awkward.
To add insult to injury their dogs who had been relatively calm start to fight and bark at the dogs from another table. 
Some of the walkers got up and left early.
Janet didn't feel comfortable asking for a ride back to her place, so she waited until they had all gone and contacted her son to take her home to get her spare set of keys.
Back home she lay down and felt the accumulation of frustration and sadness compound.

Ruby's husband Bill called "I've found your keys, we went back and had another search."
"Oh thank you so much Bill"
The relief didn't completely erase the sadness, but the day seemed to improve after that.