"Life is like surfing a good wave. We have those moments where you feel as though you are on the top of the world and those where your life comes crashing down all around you."
Ainsley Matthews, ex-pro surfer, has been though a lot in the past. From...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
C H A P T E R T W E N T Y just one chance
amped: getting excited while surfing or looking forward to a surf.
"You're going back to your old bad habits Ains." Dawson says swimming over towards my board. "You're cutting way to early."
I groan throwing my head down against my hands. "So then what? When should I?"
"Wait till you are up and stable. You keep on cutting to soon and you are just driving the nose of the board into the water."
"Okay." I nod, breathing out the air I never knew I was holding as I flatten out on my board and start paddling out towards the unknown. Dawson quickly catches up to me and grabs onto my board, halting me in my tracks.
"You know I'm not trying to be mean right?" He says with a small smile. "I just want you to be the best you can possibly be."
"I know daws. It's just frustrating. I use to be one of the best, and now here I am. I can't do anything right it seems" I say looking down at the board avoiding his eyes.
"You're not giving yourself enough credit. Look at you right now, you're sitting out in the ocean, sitting on a surfboard. A month ago if I told you this is what you'd be doing you would have laughed at me. You've come such a long way, and I'm proud of you." He says reaching out and cupping my face, forcing me to look at him.
"What would I do without you." I say looking into his green eyes. "You've changed me and in a good way."
I lean forward and place my lips against his softly as I let all of my worries slip away.
"So are you ready to try again?" He asks against my lips as I pull away and paddle out further giving him my answer.
"You're spotting the wave all on your own this time." He shouts from far away with a smug smile dancing across his face.
I find myself staring out at the horizon watching the waves rise and fall. I know what I'm looking for. Not a wave which is parallel to the skyline, but one that is angled or sloped.
I recognize a few closeouts coming my way due to the fact it's parallel to the skyline. There's no point wasting energy on those because the wave will break simultaneously across its face.
Just then I spot a wave in the distance with a high-peace on its right hand side. I know the waves going to start breaking at the right so I start paddling towards the shore.
I angled my self so that I would ride in the direction of the break as I slowly felt the wave start to lift me up.
Pressing down on the board with the palms of my hands, I placed my feet underneath me and stood up into a crouching position.
