surf for my life.
I could feel it rise up behind me like a monster chasing me down, and I dared not look back. It was awesome, a mountain of liquid power, leaving no room for error. I bobbled for a split second, getting my balance on the unfamiliar board as I went hurtling onto the steep incline. I accelerated down the face of the wave, hanging weightless, listening to the song it sang and humming with euphoria. The wave curled before me, unfolding exactly as it had appeared in my dream.
Teal, cerulean and turquoise, there weren’t enough words to describe the incredible blue tube that engulfed me. I moved through it in a trancelike state, completely calm in a way I hadn’t been for a long time. I caressed the wall of water with my fingertips and laughed, overcome with the sensation that everything was going to be fine, that there was nothing to fear.
The tube narrowed, but I only needed to crouch slightly to shoot through the end and finish on my feet. I sank down in the water slowly, perfectly content.
Then I looked up at the mountain of water forming again, setting itself up to crush me under a thousand tons of heavy blue death. Evie’s words about mortality rang in my ears. I started to paddle frantically away, but there was no possible way I could outrun it.
And suddenly Kimo was right there, his strong arm reaching out for mine, hauling me away and over the wave to the calmer waters beyond. When we finally stopped, my whole body was buzzing with adrenaline, more alive than ever.
“Whoop!” Kimo let out a cry, “Huui! Dat was da kine surfin!”
I laughed with glee, unable to wipe the smile from my face, “That was incredible! You weren’t kidding about this place!”
He shook his head in wonder, addressing Matt as he paddled up to us, “See dat?” he asked, “Wahdid I tellya?”
Matt smiled and tossed his head, “Great surfing!” he exclaimed, “Take me now.”
Kimo spun around us in a circle, spewing a cloud of noxious exhaust fumes. I couldn’t help thinking how much better it was being towed by a mermaid as I waved at the air, choking and coughing. Matt grabbed the rope with determination, looking back to see if I was watching. The minute they left I scanned the water for Noelani and Leilani. As soon as the noisy machine was a good distance away their shining heads broke the surface once more.
“So, do you know Lorelei?” I asked, keeping one eye on the guys as they started out onto another humongous swell.
“We know all of our sisters, and now we know that it’s true. You will help us. You are the one.”
“The one?”
“Yes. We know you brought Nerissa back.”
I wondered if I should tell them about the awful truth about mermaid reproduction.
“Uhm… Some of them are never coming back… Like my mother…”
“Mother?”
I squeezed my eyes shut, “Adria.”
They studied me like I was a specimen under a microscope, “You look like Adria.”
“Yeah,” I said wistfully, “What was she like?”
They were as difficult to keep on topic as Lorelei was. Distant and chaotic, all I could hear was a confusing jumble of the two babbling thoughts that bounced around in their minds. Then they began touching my board, and I could see myself from their perspective, clear and strong. I felt completely relaxed, suspended underwater in the wave, looking up at the fins of my board slicing through a brilliant blue light. I should go underwater and just start breathing, I thought.
I startled violently, recoiling from the idea. I pushed their thoughts out of my mind as hard as I could, and both their heads snapped towards me with hurt in their eyes. I felt as if I’d mentally slapped them.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “But I live on land!” I looked back to shore and was shocked to see Kimo dash wildly out of a wave without Matt. I sat up as tall as I could, riveted by the drama taking place between me and the shore.
Matt had obviously wiped out, and was no doubt getting tumbled underwater by the rolling wall of whitewater that had engulfed him. Either he’d failed to surface, or Kimo had failed to retrieve him, and I watched the spot, cringing when another wave pounded down. There was no escaping the full wrath of the ocean from the zone; I made a mental calculation of the time that had elapsed. If he hadn’t caught at