[ WP ] Write a story in a fantasy or science fiction world in which the characters do n't do very much at all but we learn a lot about the world

It was the summer of'67, Hendrix was on the record player because Mister Morello insisted that they be the coolest burger joint in Mermaid's Landing. 
 
 Ellie-May Richter checked and rechecked the clock on the wall as the sun started to set. Her shift ended in a few minutes and then he would show up. She peered out of the booth windows to see the sun slowly cresting over the ocean. And then, with the warm red light shining through the spray, she could make out the shape of them. 
 
 They walked up the long airy street to the Nautilus Diner, their salty brine smell lost in the sea breeze. The old couple in the booth by the window watched in quiet, yet obscene fear as they trod past the windows and pressed the door open, ringing the bell over top with their blood red fins. 
 
 They had blue scales with a glossy green iridescence all over their bodies, save for their white underbellies and the red fins atop their head and trailing down their backs to a long, fringed tail like a tadpole's. They were each shaped exactly in the image of a man, tall and fit with broad shoulders and a narrow, agile waist. Their faces were strong-jawed with chiseled noses and sharply squinting yellow-black eyes that never seemed to blink. The middle one, slightly shorter curled his lipless mouth into a snarling smile that revealed a set of short sharp teeth. 
 
 Ellie-May let out a loud, shrill shriek and ran out from behind the counter. 
 
 `` Good to see you too El.'' The middle Atlantean smiled as she jumped up against him and nearly pinned herself to him with the strength of her embrace. 
 
 `` No good Lagooners, dripping all over the tiles.'' Grumbled old man Bowditch. 
 
 `` Could say the same about you, if that catheter slips again, old man.'' The tallest and most muscular of them said. 
 
 `` Do n't be rude, Hagrah.'' said Ellie's boyfriend, Rilo. 
 
 `` Aww, Rilo and the boys are okay.'' Said Captain Keegan, the old fisherman from his booth at the back. `` Dragged me back to shore in the storm of 63.'' 
 
 `` Our first meeting.'' Ellie giggled. 
 
 `` Well I'm just glad I'm not Mister Richter, ca n't imagine ever having guppies for grandkids.'' Bowditch muttered. 
 
 `` Yeah well I use protection.'' Ellie answered with a tut. 
 
 `` Are you ready to go Miss Richter.'' Muttered Ragoth, the thinnest of the Atlanteans. He was the newest to the surface. His voice was uncertain, his command of English was the weakest and his accent was the most pronounced. 
 
 `` Sure, I made sure the T-Bird was all fueled up on my lunch break.'' She said, before carrying four matching leather jackets off the coatrack. Hers was the smallest, and the one that least smelt of seawater but like all the rest it was stitched across the back with a nautical compass surrounded by crashing waves and the name'Kingfishers' embroidered underneath it. `` We've got ta make sure we pick up my friend Kimmy, she really wants to meet you, Hagrah, she loves bad boys.'' 
 
 With the usual jubilance of teenagers on a Friday night they walked out the door and hopped into the bright yellow T-Bird parked across the way. `` At least they're not negros.'' Old Lady Bowditch said as they sped into town. 
 
 
 

