The Perfect Wave (fiction), sample page:
My thoughts were interrupted by the loud, pulsating sound of my phone. The ringtone I had set for Cameron was Burned Betrayal by his favorite band, the hard-rock group Lethal Destroyer.
“Hey, Cam, what’s up?” I asked.
“Nothing dude, I just noticed something kinda funny. You know how school lets us choose one optional personal preference class every couple of months?”
“Don’t remind me,” I groaned. “They should rename the site www.MonroeHighHasTheMostBoringPersonalPreferencesInTheWorld.com.”
Cameron snickered, “Yeah, tell me about it. But let’s see if this changes your mind. It looks like Monroe High is going to be offering a brand-new class that might be of some interest to you. Check this out, Jake, it’s listed right here: January semester, Course name: Soul Surfing. What do you think of that?”
I had wondered why our school didn’t offer a surfing class like other beach-community schools, but Soul Surfing? My immediate reaction was to laugh dismissively. “Cam, isn’t that some wacky philosophy about believing that surfing is deep and spiritual, like a religion?”
“Yes it is, my son,” Cameron joked. “You must reject all your worldly possessions and come to the ocean for salvation and healing.”
I chuckled. “Who’s the instructor, anyway?”
“It lists a guy called Mr. Mike W. Cooper. I’ve never even heard of anyone by that name at school. What do ya think, bro, are you ready to become a soul surfer?” The sarcasm in Cameron’s voice was unmistakable.
“Yeah, right, Cam. I’d rather take ballet. That guy Mr. Cooper is probably a fat old teacher who has boogie-boarded a few times at Santa Monica beach and now thinks he’s an expert. Dude, I’m a competitive surfer. I don’t need some old guy telling me a bunch of stupid stuff that doesn’t have anything to do with hitting the beach and shredding waves.”
We talked for a couple more minutes and then Cameron had to get back to his studying. As for me, I wasn’t motivated to spend an entire evening doing boring homework. After maybe ten minutes of going through the motions, I grew restless and started watching some X-Games clips and scrolling through some Tik-Toks. Later, I streamed Surf Paradise, one of many surfing videos I had seen countless times. I fantasized about traveling to exotic locations to surf the best waves in the world, just like my favorite surfer, Billy Hewitt. I figured he had it made…jetting across the world, surfing beautiful, uncrowded beaches, and getting paid for it, too. Man, what an awesome life! I went to sleep that night dreaming of white sand, warm water, and epic barrels.
“Hey, Cam, what’s up?” I asked.
“Nothing dude, I just noticed something kinda funny. You know how school lets us choose one optional personal preference class every couple of months?”
“Don’t remind me,” I groaned. “They should rename the site www.MonroeHighHasTheMostBoringPersonalPreferencesInTheWorld.com.”
Cameron snickered, “Yeah, tell me about it. But let’s see if this changes your mind. It looks like Monroe High is going to be offering a brand-new class that might be of some interest to you. Check this out, Jake, it’s listed right here: January semester, Course name: Soul Surfing. What do you think of that?”
I had wondered why our school didn’t offer a surfing class like other beach-community schools, but Soul Surfing? My immediate reaction was to laugh dismissively. “Cam, isn’t that some wacky philosophy about believing that surfing is deep and spiritual, like a religion?”
“Yes it is, my son,” Cameron joked. “You must reject all your worldly possessions and come to the ocean for salvation and healing.”
I chuckled. “Who’s the instructor, anyway?”
“It lists a guy called Mr. Mike W. Cooper. I’ve never even heard of anyone by that name at school. What do ya think, bro, are you ready to become a soul surfer?” The sarcasm in Cameron’s voice was unmistakable.
“Yeah, right, Cam. I’d rather take ballet. That guy Mr. Cooper is probably a fat old teacher who has boogie-boarded a few times at Santa Monica beach and now thinks he’s an expert. Dude, I’m a competitive surfer. I don’t need some old guy telling me a bunch of stupid stuff that doesn’t have anything to do with hitting the beach and shredding waves.”
We talked for a couple more minutes and then Cameron had to get back to his studying. As for me, I wasn’t motivated to spend an entire evening doing boring homework. After maybe ten minutes of going through the motions, I grew restless and started watching some X-Games clips and scrolling through some Tik-Toks. Later, I streamed Surf Paradise, one of many surfing videos I had seen countless times. I fantasized about traveling to exotic locations to surf the best waves in the world, just like my favorite surfer, Billy Hewitt. I figured he had it made…jetting across the world, surfing beautiful, uncrowded beaches, and getting paid for it, too. Man, what an awesome life! I went to sleep that night dreaming of white sand, warm water, and epic barrels.