The Perfect Wave

6 Pages 1542 Words

The Perfect Wave
The sky was crystal blue. There was a slight breeze blowing off of the shore tickling the treetops causing the birds to chirp quietly. The palms were rustling gently almost in unison with the crashing of the waves, like a natural symphony. Each wave crumbled slowly up the beach in foaming broken lines, only to peel back down the beach, slowly and casually through the soft clean sand. As each wave leaves the beach the small eating antennae of sand crabs are visible, catching microscopic organisms of all types. In stark contrast to the beautiful setting, where the sand ends, the cars and pavement begin. The beautiful beach is lined with old Volvos and Volkswagens. All of the cars have empty surfboard racks. As I turn back towards the water, I look out at the waves. They are packed, but there are plenty of waves for everyone. I struggle into my wetsuit as quickly as possible, rushing to get into the water. With a freshly waxed board and my wetsuit pulled on, I sprint into the water, diving onto the board and using the momentum to skim over the first few waves. The perfectly formed rip current pulls me out so quickly that I barely have to paddle. As I reach the peak, I line myself up with the other surfers, and wait for my chance to catch the perfect set wave. I find myself gazing down at the bottom beneath me instead of at the incoming sets. The colors that darted around and in and out of the shallow reef below were small fish. They flitted around the reef below, slipping in between the thin smooth strands of seaweeds. The urchins littered the bottom intermingling with the abalone and the small lobster and crabs. Every now and then a small sea otter or seal would dart by underneath, sometimes with an urchin in its tiny paws. Over the past few years the number of sea otters has slowly increased to the point where they no longer have to be on the endangered species list. And they aren’t alone. Abalon...