Shipwreck Quest: Point Reyes

Chapter 3-Edited

This afternoon, we went to check out the beach. There are some really pretty shells and the sand felt smooth and silky between my toes.

At our old house we never really got to go to the beach because it was too far away and we never had enough time. 

I'm decided I'm going to learn how to surf. Mum bought me a plain blue surfboard from the nearby shop. She used to surf a lot so she was more then happy to teach me.

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"Come on Lucy!" Mum yelled to me over the noise of the roaring waves.

"Coming Mum!" I yell back, running towards her with my surfboard tucked safely under one arm.

"So-basically-all-you-have-to-do-is-make-sure-that-the-strap-is-around-your-ankle-so-you-don't-lose-your-board," Mum finally paused for a breath. Who knew she could say all that in one go?!

 "Then you paddle until a wave comes then you hop up and ace it. Any questions?" She asked  with a smile.

"Ummm, what happens if I fall off?" I asked, as though it was an obvious question and not a dumb question, with the way Mum laughed when I asked.

"You hop back on of course," she replied with a chuckle.

"Oh."

"Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it," Mum reassured.

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Turns out, I did not get the hang of it.

On my first attempt, I paddled out to around where Mum told me. It wasn't too far out, but I couldn't hear Mum anymore and there was only two people other people nearby, sitting on their boards.

The water was really flat today, there was only a few waves the were big enough to surf, making it quite boring. A few minutes later, a curve on the horizon caught my attention.

A wave had started to form approximately a kilometre away. As it neared closer, I shakily put the bottom of both of my feet on the board. I immediately fell off.

 I heard laughter as I came up, spluttering for air. There were the two boys who had been sitting on their boards, laughing at me. They looked around my age, maybe a little older, one had dark brown hair, and the other had blonde hair and sparkling green eyes.

To rub salt in the wound, they expertly surfed the wave another wave, throwing in a few tricks. Talk about show-offs. I paddled back to the shore, not wanting to get more embarrassed. 

When I got their, Mum gave me an 'inspirational and uplifting' pep talk that was code for 'get back on the water now and have another go.'

After an astronomical amount of laughter from the two infuriating boys, I finally successfully surfed a wave without falling off. 

"Not laughing at me now, are you?" I called out to the two boys smugly. That made them shut up.

 After some more good waves, they eventually paddled away and I went back to the shore feeling good.

"You were great out there Lucy!" Mum said, clearly very impressed.

"Thanks Mum," I replied. "Surfing is actually kinda fun."

"I'm going back out there, so tell me when it is time to go ok?"

"K," Mum agreed. "I need to go check on the twins and make sure they aren't up to to much mischief." And with that, Mum turned on her heel and walked over to where the twins were.

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When I got tired of surfing, I decided to go check out the rock pools. Mum wouldn't mind. 

I walked along to the rocky half of the beach. There was only a couple of people around. Soon, I had wandered further than everyone else. 

The rock pools were filled with all sorts of things. There were mainly small, colourful fish, but also some crabs and starfish.

All of a sudden, the land beneath me changed. Feeling the soft sand, I became confused. I was looking at rock pools only a second ago!

 I took a step back. It changed to rocks.

 A step forward. It was sand.

That was so crazy! It was like my own private beach that no one else knew about! I took a few more steps forward, curious as to what secrets lay further ahead, but I was stopped by a call.

"Lucy! Time to go!"

I ran as fast as I could over the rocks. The soles of my bare feet cried in protest.

On the walk back, the twins talked about all the things they did, and, according to them, the weird people (personally, I think it is the other way around) they talked to. Those poor strangers. They didn't deserve having to put up with the twins when they weren't even their own children.

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Last Updated: 08/04/2024