Free 02 The Moon And The Tide - Marina's Tales by Derrolyn Anderson Page B

relief, like
coming home at the end of a long journey. I sat up on the board and
scanned the area. The blustery weather was keeping people out of
the water, and we had the spot to ourselves. Wind was making
whitecaps on the water, knocking the tops off the waves and
stirring up the sea-foam. The surf was big, but still half the size
of the beautiful cresting waves at the point. Laying down on my
board, I closed my eyes to concentrate.
    “Aren’t you going to surf?” Ethan asked,
coming up alongside me.
    “I’m waiting for the right one.”
    I could hear him chuckle as he watched me
gather my focus. Then I felt it, and I started to paddle out. It
was bigger than the ones we swam through, the first of a set I knew
would be great. I maneuvered into position and caught it at the
perfect spot for where it would start to curl.
    Just like the day at the point I somehow knew
what it would do before it happened. Time slowed down and I cut
back and forth across the face, adjusting for the smaller drop. I
jumped off the lip once and turned to reclaim the frothy face just
as it melted into foam. I paddled back to the starting point and
could feel some big swells lining up behind us. This place was
promising.
    Ethan paddled up beside me, eyes wide. “Where
did you learn to do that?” he sputtered.
    “I told you I got better,” I said, mildly
annoyed that he hadn’t believed me. “Wait...” I closed my eyes for
a few seconds, “The next wave will be even better,” I said as I
moved out to catch it.
    This one nearly rivaled the point’s waves in
height but was going to play out even longer. I blocked out
everything else and surfed like the guys at the point did. The
longer wave made it possible to try new things, and I was again
reminded of swimming with the mermaids as the flashing water raced
by. These waves died out with a bunch of foam instead of a
dangerous dash on the rocks. I was relaxed, able to indulge myself
without fear, and it felt really great.
    I swam back to Ethan with a satisfied smile
and sat up on the board, catching my breath.
    “I like this place.”
    “Marina,” he looked serious, “people surf for years and never get anywhere near that good.”
    “I know,” I said, looking down, “I think I
have an unfair advantage.” I looked up at him with a sly smile and
he started laughing. He came closer to me on his board and leaned
over for a kiss.
    “What am I going to do with you?”
    “Surf frequently,” I said with a grin.
    Even with the less than perfect weather it
was fun being out in the ocean with Ethan. I watched him carefully
and picked up a few more maneuvers. The hours seemed to fly by like
minutes, and I looked up to see the gray skies had grown darker and
more stormy looking. Thick black clouds completely obscured the
sun, and as the wind picked up we agreed that it was time to call
it a day.
    “Look!” said Ethan, pointing to a pair of
dolphins swimming past, rolling out of the water. I had a sudden
flash of inspiration.
    “Do you want to see something?”
    “What?”
    “Lorelei showed me...”
    Now his blue eyes looked alarmed, “What?”
    “It’s not bad,” I said with a smile. I
focused, and called out in mermaid, “ Hey dolphins, come
here! ”
    The dolphins suddenly turned and swam
directly towards me. They surfaced on either side of my board and
rolled in the water to look up at me expectantly. I giggled with
delight and reached down to stroke them. It was surprising how soft
they were; their cute faces seemed to smile back at me. I looked up
at Ethan, joyous.
    He looked at the dolphins and back at me,
“Time to go,” he said seriously, face stony.
    “Ethan, they can understand mermaid... I can
talk to them– and sea lions too!”
    He looked pained, “We need to go in.”
    I was disappointed as I said goodbye to the
dolphins; we got out of the water just as it began to pour down
rain. We trudged on tired legs up the path to the truck. Stripping
down in the driving rain