Dawn Patrol

148

Sunny wipes the spray from her eyes and looks again.

She saw what she saw.

About fifty yards out but coming fast.

Waves generally come in sets of three, and they've done the three. But every once in a while, a set has a fourth. This bonus wave is a freak- bigger, stronger, meaner.

Amutant.

Known among waterman as the “Oh My God Wave.”

Which is what Sunny says as she sees it.

“Oh… my… God.”

The wave of a lifetime.

Mylifetime, Sunny thinks. My shot at the life I want, barreling right at me. I'm in the perfect spot at the perfect time. She rises up on her hips to look around and see what the Jet Ski crews are doing. They're lying out on the shoulder, waiting for the next set.

Well, the next set is here, boys, she thinks as she sees Mackie's Jet Ski start forward, easily fast enough to steal this wave from her. But then she sees High Tide paddle out between Mackie's ski and her. Golden boy Tim is going to have to go through him, and he isn't going to go through him. Not High Tide.

Normally, that would bother her, but she made her point on the beach and she's over it. It's only The Dawn Patrol looking out for one another and she accepts that.

This wave is mine, she thinks as she lies down on her board, turns it in, and points it toward shore. She starts paddling hard, looking once over her shoulder to see the big wave kick up behind her. She lowers her head as she feels the wave pick up the board, then lift it like a splinter, and then She's on top of the world.

She can see it all-the ocean, the beach, the city behind it, the green hills behind the city. She can see the crowd on the beach, see them watching her, see the photogs aiming the big cameras on their tripods. She can see a little boat moving in, photographers on board, getting close enough for shots but staying out of her line. Overhead, a helicopter zooms in and she knows the video guys are up there, ready to get her ride.

If I ride it, she thinks as she gets to her knees, ready to push up into her stance.

Ifhell.

No if about it.

Then she stops thinking.

The time for thought is over; now it has to be all instinct and action.

The nose of the board drops suddenly and she pushes up to her feet, planting them solidly, her calf muscles tensed. Time seems to stop as she's suspended for a second on the top of the wave. She thinks, I'm too late. I missed it. Then The board plunges down.

She leans right, just enough to catch the line, not enough to tip her into the wave and a horrible wipeout. She throws her arms out for balance, bends her knees for speed, and then she's off, down the face of this giant wave, her hair flying behind her like a personal pennant as she turns her feet right a little and cuts up higher into the wave, then plunges back down with incredible speed.

Too much speed.

The board bucks and bounces off the water and she's in the air for a second, the board a good foot beneath her. She lands on it, losing her balance, going sideways, headfirst toward the face of the wave.

The crowd on the beach groans.

It's going to be a bad one.

Sunny feels herself going, her shot getting away from her, and she cranks to the left, squats low, and rights herself as the wave crests over, and then She's in the green room, totally inside the wave. There is nothing else, just her and the wave, her in the wave, her wave, her life.

The watchers on the beach lose sight of her. They're holding their collective breath because all they can see is wave, the incredibly brave chick is in there somewhere, and it's an open question whether she'll come out.

Then a blast of white water shoots sideways out of the tube and the woman shoots out, still on her feet, her left hand touching the back of the wave, and the crowd breaks into a cheer. They're screaming for her, yelling for her as she cuts back up on the top of the wave again.

She's flying now and she uses the momentum to crest the top of the wave.

She's in the air, high over the wave, and as she jumps off the board, she does a full somersault before she hits the water on the far side of the wave. When she pops up, Dave is there on a Jet Ski. She grabs onto the sled, pulls herself on, pulls her board on, and lets him take her in.

The crowd on the beach is waiting for her.

She's mobbed by photographers, writers, surf company execs.

It was the ride of the day, they tell her.

No, she thinks.

It was the ride of a lifetime.