Water Wars

• Lauren Hyde, Grade 12
• Short Story
• 2014

A hard-earned streak of gold marks the sea’s triumph upon a land that cascades down to meet its defeat. The waves don’t pause to taste their victory. In their haste to eat it all they are relentless. Yet still the land prevails, despite the ferocity of its battle; it grows to withstand. Thick scrub envelops headlands that cradle the shining wound. Although seas have caused land to break and fall, those great boulders and rocks hold their heads high, and refuse to leave so soon. They protect their former homes in the cliffs, and reduce the waves to merely lick at their headland’s feet.

These fallen giants harbour pools and caves, which shelter many creatures. I keep these beings alive – without me, long ago they would have died out. However, I too course through the rumbling surf that aims to sweep them away. You will find me in birds that circle high above that water, and the scrub below in which they roost.

In lives such as these my role is simple. I have only one task. But there are some who have evolved to make my job far more complex. And it is for these that I am summoned so frequently.

***

The wave approaches her, its peak forming just to her left. She kicks her feet. Swivels the board, toes lost in green depths. She paddles. The water sucks, pulling her back. Menacing shapes lurk beneath her, yet she refuses to falter.

Her arms push harder – plunge further into the wet. Too late, she realises her appraisal of the body behind her was wrong. It has steepened up – uncaring, and intent upon reaching shore. She has gone too far. Its face crumples and smacks down onto her board. She tumbles with it. A white wash clasps around her body, and like a doll she is carried deep within its roll. Water rushes into her mouth and nose. She tastes salt and defeat. The sea stings at her wide eyes. But similar to any bored child with its toy, she is soon tossed aside, and allowed to burst through to the world above.

She flounders at its surface, gulping no longer liquid but air. She turns back to face her assailant, her face a mask of despair. I surge through her. Setting her jaw she grabs at the board that floats beside her, and moves back out to sea. The next wave is hers.

***

This day at the beach seems normal; there is no difference in what you perceive. Yet what happens beneath the surface is where I come out to play; and I’m not talking about simply under the sea. Not only am I there with the animals in a rock pool and the land in which they reside. I course throughout all humans like the girl who surfs any ride. Have you no recognition still? It is I – hello, the determination behind your will.