The water dazzled under the rising sun just above the horizon. The sky was blue and my body
felt light in the water that felt warm against my skin. I was the only one oating on the sea of
light. At times like these I feel as if I'm special and it makes me just a little bit happier. The
problems that worried me couldn't bother me right now.
I continued to paddle with all my energy wave after wave as I thought to myself that perhaps
it was because I was so optimistic and got happy so easily that was the cause of my worries. The
morning sea was beautiful. It was too hard to describe the colours of the waves as they clashed
together little by little. It was enough to catch my attention as the surfboard I was on slid into
the face of the next wave. I felt I was ready to stand up on the board but I lost my balance and fell beneath the waves. I failed again. I swallowed some sea water and some of it irritated my
eye.
My rst worry; I have never managed to stand up on my surf board over the past six months.
I made my way back up to the car park on the shore (it was really just an open eld lled
with overgrown weeds) and using the tall grass as cover there, I took o the wetsuit that was a
perfect t against my skin then hosed my naked body with water and changed into my school
uniform. The place was deserted. The strong sea winds felt very comfortable after getting so
hot from the exercise. My short, barely shoulder length hair dried almost in the blink of an eye.
The rising sun cast long crooked shadows from the weeds over my white sailor suit top. I loved
the sea but I particularly loved it the most when it was this season. If it was winter, it would
have been very uncomfortable changing like this.
As I put on some lip balm on my dried lips I heard my older sister's step wagon driving up
so I took my surf board and sports bag with me and made my way to her. She was wearing a
red jogging suit and reeling down the driver seat window when she called to me.
"Kanae, how did it go today?"
My sister was beautiful. Her hair was long and straight, she always kept her composure and
she was a high school teacher. She was eight years older than I was and long ago I didn't like her.
Perhaps I had a complex where I would always compare and analyse the average little me against
my brilliant sister. But I like her now. Before I knew it, I had come to respect her after she
graduated from university and returned home to the island. If she didn't wear that old jogging
suit she would look a lot more beautiful than she did now. But maybe she did that because she
didn't want to stand out too much on this small island.
"I couldn't do it today either. The wind was oshore the whole time, "I answered her as I
put the surfboard into the trunk.
"Don't worry about it, take your time. Are you going to come practice after school too?"
"Yeah, I want to. Will it be OK for you, sis?"
"It'll be OK. But be sure to get your studying done too."
"Yeah, yeah!"
I answered her in a loud sarcastic tone and made my way to a scooter parked by a corner
of the car park. The school standard Honda Super Cub was the one my sister had during her
apprenticeship. Our island doesn't have any cars and there were almost no buses around either
so most students have to obtain their bike license once they're sixteen. Travelling around on
the scooter was very convenient and comfortable but every time I go to the sea, my sister would
drive the van along because my scooter can't carry the surf board. It was time for us to go to
school now. I was going to my classes and my sister was going to teach hers. As I turned the
key to start the engine, I checked the time on my watch. It was seven forty- ve. Yes, I still had
time. He should still be practicing. I followed my sister on the Cub and we left the seashore
behind us.