Stairways | A Surviving Summer FanFiction

Part 46 - Stairway

"Summer! Get on your board!" you hear Ari yell, and although the advice wasn't meant for you, you follow it all the same, hoisting yourself up onto the same board Ari picked out for you not so long ago - let's hope it brings me luck today, you think.

The cold water is suffocating, especially as you didn't even have time to put on your wetsuit - you're being pulled down by your water-logged baggy t-shirt and denim shorts, and it's impossible to lie on your board straight or in a way that doesn't make you feel like you're about to slip off it.

"Y/n! What the hell are you doing?!" Marlon yells above the noise of the crashing waves which were now dangerously close to the group of you.

You don't respond, focusing on staying on your board.

"We need to get past the reef!" Ari shouts, pointing out to sea. Paddling out towards possible death seems slightly counter productive, but you know it's the safest way. Once you get Summer to safety, you hope the deal with you and Marlon still stands - now that you're out here, you can't not surf Stairway, right?

You paddle harshly, following the others a few feet behind. Waves crash just behind you, and you know after a couple of minutes of hell, when your arms are burning and you somehow feel like you're drowning above water, you can finally relax, sit up on your board and survey the area. It's quite beautiful really.

"We're past the reef, but we need to keep going to get round the headland." Ari says.

"Where after that though?" Marlon asks.

"If we can get round the headland, there should be a little beach we can get to - we can get into town from there."

And it just makes you want to surf it even more - knowing only some of the best local surfers have made it out here, and now you're here. It just seems a shame to waste that one opportunity you have now, and probably will ever have.

"I'll meet you there." you say impulsively, lying back down on your front as you begin to paddle back in the direction you came from, trying to line yourself up with one of the waves of a new set coming in, whilst ignoring the persistent shouts of the other three.

Nerves finally set in as the adrenaline fades away, and you line yourself up with a perfect wave.

Even if you wanted to turn back now, it's too late, as you feel yourself being dragged down forcefully by the wave. You're high up on the peak - you know that, and yet there's something exhilarating that overcomes the nerves as you pop up to your feet, wobbling under the speed of the water beneath you. You keep low, in fact your hands could nearly touch the wax on your board.

Instinct takes over, and you find yourself pulling off a slight bottom turn when you reach the edge of the wave. It's incredible. It never occurred to you that if you make the state team, you could be surfing waves like this full time, as a career.

But the bliss is short-lived. Your smile fades as the wave starts barrelling, and then the end begins closing in on you. There's only a matter of seconds before you're pummelled by the heavy weight of tons of ice-cold water.

3... You're suddenly overcome with panic - could you ride the wave into shore? What shore? You know there's hardly any beach at Stairway, just rocks, which going into at this speed could probably kill you.

2... What if you just pulled back and turned around so the resistance stops you? Then you could just let the water hopefully wash over you while you duck under, then catch your board on the other side. But there's not enough time.

1... You do the next best thing - you dive sideways off your board into the wall of water on one side of you.

Although you're trying to push through the wave, it seems intent on pulling you the other way. As it curves over, you realise why it's breaking right here - you're right over the reef, where Ari was when he was injured last year. You need to get out of this, now.

You try the best option you can think of: swimming upwards. You hope this wave is the last one in the set, because once you're above the surface, another wave might just come and make you repeat the process all over again. But that's not the biggest problem - the problem is that you can't get up to the surface. Salt is stinging at your eyes as you try to gather how far down you are, as each push upwards feels futile.

And you realise you're not just moving up and down, you're being dragged sideways.

Panic begins to set in again. What the hell were you thinking? Was surfing one wave worth it to now be pulled away by a rip current leading to almost certain death?!

Where's Ari and Marlon? Shouldn't they be helping you right now? Although they probably have no idea where you are, considering you haven't surfaced for probably a good twenty seconds. Shit, are you running out of breath yet? You hadn't even noticed. You need to get to the surface now.

The water above you appears to go calmer, the muffled crashes of waves fading out as you swim upwards. When you feel your face hit open air, you finally let yourself relax, feeling a rush of energy and adrenaline overcome you as you realise you're safe, and you just rode probably one of the biggest waves of your life. You're too overcome with excitement and pleasure that you barely notice that a new set is rolling in, and you're dangerously close to a group of rocks not far from the jump.

You manage to tread water for long enough to see that you need to get up on the rocks, so you won't be dragged away by another rip current, and then you begin swimming towards them. You're only a couple of metres away when the wave eventually arrives, and you feel it rush up behind you, knocking you forward. And suddenly, your body collides with the rocks.