Winning against the Waves
The air was calm and peaceful and the smell of the ocean was fresh and salty. In a certain airport, a girl was about to fall asleep. That girl was me, and I was really bored. I thought about aiming a kick at a bag that was carelessly thrown on the ground. You must know I only had this urge because I had been dreaming of taking up Taekwando again and getting slightly obsessed! I was also really excited because I was going to Sri Lanka for my Spring Break! Thinking of the days to come I was overjoyed with excitement! . Surfing, swimming, eating …”i hope they have ladyfingers there” .. I thought cheerfully :D
Upon reaching the hotel the first thing I did (after eating - no they did NOT have ladyfingers ) was to get ready to swim in the sea. When I got there - because my parents were taking too much time - I ran into the water where I met a really nice man named Sam - who I learned for a Surf instructor. He told me about surfing and the next thing I know, me and my mum were doing a surf lesson and it was amazing!!. There was something different about this sea, the waves were wonderful! . Sam told us how to surf, you had to lay on the board and he would walk you towards the waves, there was something called a leash which you strapped to both the board and your ankle so that even if you fell you would be safely tethered to the board.
Anyways, Sam told me that we have to do these four things to surf right
after getting close to the waves (it was shallow even though the waves were awesome) , you would have to wait for the right waves which had to be BIG and GREEN.
On top of that you had to calculate so that the waves would crash only when you were standing up on the board.
To stand up you had to get up in a pushup position and put your strong leg first and then place your other leg in front of it.
Slowly you get your balance and stand up.
It was hard and I fell down maybe ten times but I stood up 30 times and Sam said I’m a natural!
Thought my mother did stand up once or twice or thrice she wasn’t doing as well as me 😄 The waves pushed and turned me but I fearlessly pushed on.
I lay on the board ready for when Sam pushed me and gave the command ‘UP!’ to stand up and bend your legs. …” Can you..” — I was cut-off mid sentence when he pushed me and gave me the command. I was going to say “Can you adjust my leash?”. Yes, my leash had gotten tangled in my legs at the very last second! . Nonetheless I stood up on the board and bent my knees in concentration, riding the wave.
But then my board was pushed by a big wave towards a lady standing in the water preoccupied with taking a selfie. “GET OUT OF THE WAY!” I screamed but the waves were too loud. At the same moment, my leash got entangled into my legs and I fell into the water right when the wave was the most powerful.
I was pushed under water and struggled to get up. “OWWWW!” I screamed!, muffled against crashing waves, my leash had pulled me under and I grabbed onto sand. The wave had positioned the blue surf board right above me and it was restricting me from going up! Another wave hit and I was breathless!
and then I saw it!
A fish swimming through the water effortlessly. I thought, “if a fish can swim that easily, I need to make an effort!”. Kicking a taekwando high kick on the board I somersaulted and grabbed onto the leash, swimming fast and furious (using all my swim training) I finally reached the shore safely. I looked around to see someone carrying a mango ice cream cone and my only thought in that moment was…
YUMMMYYY!!!
The next morning my dad woke up groggily. He looked around the hotel room but there was noone there! I had yet again dragged my mom out for another fantastic surf lesson! And yes this is how I spent my Spring break — surfing, swimming, debating how fish were so nimble with my parents and eating ICE-CREAM!
