The_Break

The break So there he was through the dry dusty road, his feet were bare and they started to blister in the hot morning sun. But his search for the famous beach off the coast of WA was worth much more than the riches it would cost him, this was about him and the ocean. As he approached the top of the hill with his surfboard and back pack the power of the sun heated every part of his body and filled his heart with joy. Since his childhood he’d longed to feel the strong scent of the ocean filling his lungs he knew now that he was getting close. He approached the clearing where the mile long beach with sand as white as snow, contrasting with the dark basalt rock platforms visible in the distance. The ocean roared with the power of a thousand elephants he knew it would be a big day. He felt excited but he couldn’t hide his anxiety. As his feet touched the hot sand he looked at the left side of the beach where the reef break was plunging down into the sand, his heart sank. Now the fear welled up inside him, was he really ready to be at one with ocean like her always longed to be, to be in god’s hands. He placed his board gently on the sand avoiding the fins penetrating the sand and observed the surfers approaching the beach like ants to a carcass. They were all locals and they stared at his foreign inner city look and the board which had not been shaped in the area. At this point in time he was feeling extremely uneasy. Now not only did he need to think about his place in the water but he had to worry about the aggressive young locals who wanted to keep it local. There piercing stares made him know that they didn’t want him to be there. These groups of local surfers formed a virtual force field between him and the beach with its power being his own fear. He couldn’t penetrate this imaginary dome; it was like his feet were glued to the sand beneath his feet. He stood there on the edge of the beach for a good fifteen minutes watching the locals preparing their boards as others were already out in the ocean attempting manoeuvres he thought of as impossible. Just as he decided that he didn’t have the skills and the ocean was just too big she walked up to him. A short young women looking like she was in her late twenties her long brunette hair shined in the sun. Her freckles cover her whole face like the sky on a clear night. To begin with they just sat there watching the waves and the small dots of men riding them roaring to the shore like an umpire at a tennis match. Then they started talking about their travels and there occupations, at first he was reluctant to talk about his depressing life but eventually this random yet warm person got him talking until his mouth went dry. Although they were talking so much there was still a sense of awkwardness between them, this carried on for the complete duration of the conversation. She hailed from the crowded beaches of California. He lay there in ore of the conversations which he was participating in. He shared thoughts of his deepest emotions to this person who he’d met no longer than an hour ago. He realised that after the conversation was over he would probably never see her again he felt relieved at the thought because of the things he’d shared with her but he also wished he’d see her again it just depended on what thought he’d choose to act on. As the day grew old the sun set over the ocean and under the granite rocks in the distance the reflections gleaming on his face. The thoughts of his new found friend grew in his mind like a dogs first year at life. They strode away from each other although she had managed to convince him to come back on the following day to try his luck again with the promise of slightly smaller surf. He still wanted to ride the wave the thought was constantly filling his mind. He arrived the next day with the confidence of a new friend and the promise of a fresh day. All he could think about was the water and his hand piercing the soft yet dangerous surface of the water and the bliss of travelling down this unique wave. In the end the visualisations would not cut it he had to live it. But then he came to the sudden realisation of the fact that it wasn’t just about that it was an escape from the work environment which he never fit into due to poor life choices he was constantly faced with people who he would never be more than colleagues with and this made his life a sullen waste of time. He lived in a town which he had lived in for three years but would be forever foreign to him. The location which he currently soaked up was a frequent adolescent holiday destination and it was somehow a familiar place too him the physical features at least. The smell of the spray coming off breaking waves seemed to call him this was the place to be for him. This was when he knew he was ready and nothing would stop him from getting what he deserved, something that would make sense to him. He was now on the beach with her, he had his arm around his board. He was holding his board with a new confidence of knowing that this was where he was meant to be. At this point he got a rush of excitement like a junky after shooting up; he sprinted to the beach to a point where he felt as though his feet were not touching the ground. He leaped into the water getting into position on his board right before he crashed into the white bubbly water beneath him. He paddled out through the raging rip which brought him over monster waves that he avoided by diving his board under them as they peaked above him. In no time he was out the back in position exhausted. Now all he would do was to wait for the right wave for him. He waited and waited for what felt like hours to him until he saw the wave which he’d waited for his whole life. It peaked and he paddled for it as though a shark was chasing him he was not going to miss this wave. He felt the wave kick him and he knew he had it he stood up on the wave he finally felt at one with himself he was at the place where he would forever belong, in the water.