SURF STORIES......

ONE SMALL STEP
BY CHRISTINA BROOKS

And so I sat
on the beach
with my board and watched
from a safe distance, the waves crashing.
I had had many lessons, and even caught a wave or two, in the past…but something had changed.
My last time out was hard, and work, and deadly, almost.
I’m not sure how it happened. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention, or listening to my heart, or watching the break.

It happened fast, but I knew that ONE wave had been in motion for an eternity.
It swept me up fast, and under even quicker, and I lost my bearings.
I could not breathe.

For a moment I heard nothing. And then I heard my heartbeat pounding.
Somewhere I knew my board was surfacing, and I, connected to it, was struggling to find daylight.
This was the end. I was tired. My lungs were burning and I knew I could not hold my breath much longer. The salt was stinging my eyes and making me very aware of my various bumps, bruises and cuts that were all too real. I felt everything, every pain, every

every ache, every fear, and then, for a moment, I felt nothing.
Silence. Everything became calm. The ocean above me stood still, and with one last burst, it released me and I shot to the top. I made it. I was alive.

So now, many months later, I sat quietly on a different beach, with my board carefully waxed and my leash safely attached to my ankle, and I watched.

The waves were rough, the sets fast, and the breaks uncertain. Rip tide warnings were posted and sharks…well they were an always present danger.

I watched and waited, maybe tomorrow conditions would be better. People would understand, certainly, if I just watched.
And then, just then, I heard it.
The silence. The calm. The peace.

I gathered my board and made my way to the surf. I didn’t know what the day would hold, but I knew it would be empty for me if I did not try.
I knew when I returned to the beach again, I would be bruised, and a little dented, but it would be worth it. I stepped, into the liquid, and nothing has ever been the
same.