Whoosh. The beautiful blue waves slide up and down the shore line.
“Today is a great day to surf isn’t it Zoe?” Her mom asked.
“Yeah, it is. I can’t wait to go ride those huge waves.” Zoe replied.
“Remember, be careful and blow your whistle if you need help. Okay?”
“Got it, Mom,” and Zoe ran out to the water and dove in.
She paddled a little of the way out and sat up on her board. She turned around and looked to see her mom setting up her chair and umbrella. She turned back around and stared at all of the blue ahead of her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and touched the necklace her father gave to her right before he had passed away. The necklace had a little blue Hawaii flower on it. She has never taken it off since that moment. She opened her eyes and got ready to dive under a wave.
As she came up out of the water she slowly started to stand. She glided down
the wave just like any other. Her mom was smiling and giving her a thumbs up to say that was a great ride. Zoe rode about 5 other waves until she noticed the clouds above her getting gray. She thought to herself, “I’ll just ride a wave into shore. No problem with that.” She started to stand and was just about done with the wave until the top of it started crashing down on her and pushing her under the water. She tried so hard to swim her way to the top but wave after wave just keep coming and pushing her back under. She was just about out of energy until she felt something grab her arm and pull her to the surface of the water.
Right as she hit the surface she was gasping for air and waving her arms looking for her board to grab onto. She felt again something pull her onto a hard cold surface and then she passed out.
Later, she started to wake up. And felt a hand on her arm. She looked up to see her mom and someone else that she didn’t know but he looked familiar. This other person was a boy probably about Zoe’s age.
“Mom. What happened?” Zoe said weakly.
“You're fine and everything is okay,” her mom replied.
“I asked what happened.” Zoe said again now sounding a little annoyed.
“Well, you were trying to ride into shore. Then, waves started pushing you under water. They you were about to drown, but this boy saved you. Then, you passed out.” Her mom said also looking towards the boy.
“Who are you?” Zoe asked the boy that was sitting on her left.
“I’m Tanner. I go to school with you. And I was the one to pull you out of the water. So I practically saved your life.”
“Well that’s why you looked so familiar. What grade are you in?” Zoe asked.
“I’m in 9th,” Tanner said
“Oh, I’m in 8th. And thank you so so much for saving my life. How can I repay you?” Zoe asked.
“Would you want to be friends?” Tanner asked.
“Yeah sure. Is that all?” Zoe said suspiciously. She thought, “ That is all he is asking for. I thought that he would ask for money, food, or something dumb like that.”
“Yep. And do you want to go to a party with me tonight? Only if it’s ok with your mom,” Tanner said looking towards Zoe’s mom.
“Can I go Mom?” Zoe asked.
“Only if there is no surfing at this party. And if there is, you have to promise not to go surfing at the party,” her mom said.
“Ok I promise I won’t go surfing. But can I go in the water a least?” Zoe asked.
“Yes. But not to far into the water. Agreed?” her mom asked.
“Agreed,” Zoe said with a smile.