Hitting The Waves

• Scarlett Newman, Grade 8, Presbyterian Ladies College -
• Short Story
• 2019

Finalist in the 'Just Keep Writing 2019' competition

I walk down to the shore as the soft, white sand sinks and moulds between my toes. The loud roar of the crashing waves ring in my ears and I feel a cold, sea breeze rush over me as I run towards the blue abyss and it hits me; This feeling of relaxation. It relieves me of every worry, every stressing thought, every problem, and I’m completely separated from the rest of the land world. I dive under. Down, down, down until my hands reach the silky floor and I can feel the vibration of the waves, rolling above my head as the coolness of the water intensifies this feeling of adrenaline. Nothing can stop this now!
The sun shines brightly upon the water and my head pops up above the surface and the heat is fierce! I feel my face warming up quickly as I look back at the shore covered with umbrellas, towels and people and I love the view of the colourful beach mixed with the ocean going back and forth, the tide lightly rocking the boats anchored not too far from me. It suddenly goes quiet; no one is talking or making noise and as I look back out to the ocean, there is a rather large, scary-looking wave coming right towards me and I’m shuddering with nerves and I try to run towards it so I can dive under before it crashes on top of me, but it’s too late. The wave crashes early and I have no choice but to duck under the water and immediately I can feel the wave lift me up and the next thing I know… I’m getting tumbled around and flipping underwater and my breath is running out.
I feel like I’m going to drown. Like it won’t end and I will continue to struggle without air until I forget I’m here. But it slows down and I try my best to surface and catch a breath to calm the rush of nerves. When I gather my balance, I walk out of the water and make my way to my towel and dry the salty, dripping water from my hydrated skin and rest in the steaming sunshine. I feel great and I am addicted to this feeling that the beach gives me. As I head home, I look through the window of my dad’s car and see the ocean go out for miles and miles, like you would keep going and never reach a destination, but I can’t spend too much time thinking about it because I want to leave on the thought of, ‘I enjoyed that! I enjoyed hitting the waves!’