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He grinned that sparkly smile at me. It was a good thing I wasn’t straight, or I’d have turned into a melty pile of goo like the other Widows. No doubt I’d be too distracted by the pretty man to even think about getting up on my board.
“You’ll get it, Marge. I know you will. And it’s gonna be awesome when you catch your first wave. An awesome rush. You’ll see.”
“One more try, then I’m giving up on this crazy idea,” I answered, looking to the beach and the three Widows lounging in the sun, sipping the cocktails I started to regret I’d left.
I was all about trying new things, but honestly, surfing had never been on my mile-long list of things I wanted to do before I died. But it was better than sitting on the beach being interrogated by the three curious cats who’d homed in on my issues with Roxie like they were a bunch of problem-sniffing bloodhounds. Instead of talking about problems I didn’t want to talk about, problems I didn’t even know if Ihad,I’d bolted into the ocean to tango with the waves instead of the meddling widows staring at me from the beach.
“Oh, wow! Check out this wave! This one is looking good.” Bryce pointed behind us.
I looked over my shoulder back at the huge wave he stared at ... a wave much,muchbigger than I’d attempted so far. “Uh. That one looks bigger than the others.” A little slither of fear snaked up my spine as I appraised the looming wave barreling toward us.
“It’s easier to catch when they are a bit bigger. It’ll give you more time to get to standing. Just remember what I told you, and you’ve got this! Let’s do it, Marge!”
Before I could argue, Bryce paddled toward shore. “Paddle! Paddle!” he called to me.
I took one last look at my three friends sitting on the shore sipping cocktails and started paddling like hell toward them.
“Keep paddling, Marge! When I say ‘up,’ then jump up and ride this baby! You can do it!”
Just keep paddling. Just keep paddling. Just keep paddling.
Even though my arms burned from the strain of pushing through the water, I kept at it, keeping pace with Bryce only a few yards away. Our speeds increased as the growing wave approached, pushing us forward as it started to lift.
“Up! Up! Up!” Bryce shouted as he leaped onto his feet like a springy ninja.
My creaky joints and sore muscles didn’t move like his, so instead, I clamored awkwardly to my feet on the board moving beneath me. Every other time I’d tried, I’d lost my balance before I even got halfway up, but this time, I caught myself before I went ass over teakettle into the ocean. When I reached full height and realized I was standing, I shrieked with excitement.
“Holy cripes! I’m doing it! I’m doing it! I’m surfing!” I shouted as I teetered and wobbled on the board that lifted with the wave pushing me forward.
“You’re doing it, Marge! You’re surfing! Atta girl!” Bryce cheered.
As I stood on the board feeling the power of the ocean beneath me, I couldn’t stop grinning, my face splitting in two as pride swelled within me. I looked to the beach to see my Widows leaping off their chairs, cocktails in hand as they raced toward the beach, screaming my name.
“Go, Marge!” I heard one of them say through the sounds of the waves crashing around me.
They jumped up and down, waving and screaming as I got closer and closer to them.
“I’m surfing! I’m surfing!” I screamed to them, to myself, and to all the other surfers surrounding us riding this wave. I screamed my accomplishment to anyone who would listen.
I was surfing!
The salty water sprayed in my face as I rode the board, still stunned that I’d stayed upright for more than ten seconds. I couldn’t help pausing to think of my sweet Percy. Was he watching me right now, cheering for me as well? This wasn’t part of my wish I’d wanted to do for him, but if he was still alive, no doubt he’d have been cheering louder than everyone else on that beach for me. Always one to encourage me on.
Then I thought about Roxie and how much I wished she could see me now. How she would look on that beach, her beautiful smile radiating the whole world around her like it always did. The smile that lit up my whole life. I closed my eyes briefly, her face flooding my mind and filling me with a warmth I never wanted to dissipate. My imagination put her on the surfboard with me, my arms wrapped around her waist as we rode the wave together, our smiles matching before she turned over her shoulder and kissed me. The image of us starring in our own surfing version ofTitanicsent my stomach up in flutters like it always did when I thought of her.
Roxie. I wish you were here,I thought as I squeezed my eyes tighter and pulled her into this experience in my mind.
“Look out!” Bryce shouted, shattering the peaceful bubble I’d found myself in.
My eyes snapped open, and suddenly, I was back on a surfboard alone, not kissing Roxie and holding her in my arms like I’d just drifted off and imagined. Instead of Roxie standing on the front of my board, I saw a different woman ... A woman on a surfboard I careened straight toward. Her eyes went big as she tried to swerve out of my way.
“Look out!” she cried, trying to avoid the collision, but it was too late.
“Oh, cripes!” I shouted before I smashed into her.
A sharp pain radiated through my head before another one slammed into my face. I opened my mouth to cry out, but water flooded in instead of words coming out. The coppery taste of blood filled my mouth, but the saltwater I’d inhaled quickly erased it. The giant wave I’d been riding swallowed me whole, pulling me beneath it and tossing me around like a ragdoll.
Saltwater stung my eyes as I opened them to get some bearing on what was up and what was down. When the sun’s rays poked through the water, I paddled toward them, but the churning wave twisted and turned my body, turning up into down and down into up. As seconds turned into long moments, true fear erupted inside me as the pressure in my chest from holding my breath turned to burning pain.
