Dying Summer | JJ Maybank

(5)

10 months earlier.....

"Come on Val, it's just a little rain." Vance said with a hopeful look on his face. The tropical storm coming from the east was bringing in major swells that day. Not to mention the sheets of rain that would soon make landfall.

They've surfed before a storm before, and Val knew he was a good surfer. He knew how the water worked, how the swells would rise and fall like a deep breath. He knew that he could surf as well if not better than most of the kooks on the island. But for some reason, this time, it felt dangerous.

"I don't know Vance." He said, scratching his head. "The current looks especially strong on the news. It might not be a good idea."

"Val, live a little." He wasn't taking no for an answer. "I'll be waiting in the car, I already tied up our boards."

Yes, they did live on the beach, but there was a private little spot about 10 minutes from their house that had privacy from the tourists in their rented out houses.

Val sighs and starts to get ready. He puts on trunks and grabs a water bottle and heads for the car, still nervous.

Val opens the door, "Alright, you ready to catch some waves dude?" Vance asks him.

"Yes sir." Val is worried, but he puts on a face for his older brother. The rain is starting to come down on the drive over to their spot.

They park on the side of the street, and walk through the woods to their spot. The sand is wet and sticks to his bare feet once he hits the treeline, he lifts his hand and clears the hair from his face. He looks at the ocean, and feels dread pool in his stomach, but carries on. His brother begins to break for the water. He follows in step. He rushes in behind Vance, feeling the chill of the water encase his body. His brother yells in excitement as they both spot the same wave. He watches he bother hop on his board and paddle towards it. He gets in position and drops down to ride, Vance does a few carves up the front of the wave and quickly bails as he sees the wave closing. As nervous as he is, it quickly melts as he sees the absolute bomb to his left. "Oh shit." He yells, as he paddles over to get into position. It starts to break to his left as he mounts his board, he turns as he enters the wave, he then adjusts his feet and carves off the wave, then goes back up and goes off the lip before bailing once he sees the wave collapsing ahead. He hears his brother yell in excitement for him as he starts paddling towards him. Val has a huge grin on his face as he meets up with his brother and sits on his board.

"Nice one dude."

"Thanks man,"

They talk, until the next wave comes. Then repeat the process for a while, until they get in a toss up over a wave. Vance gets in position as he begins to ride one of the biggest waves of the day. Val, being the annoying younger brother, decides to cut him off, over taking his brother for the swell. He laughs as his brother swears at him. He does his routine and looks back, expecting a disappointed Vance. But sees nothing.

His brother is nowhere to be seen.

He yells panicking. Looking around aimlessly. He sees his brother's orange board flipped over about 20 yards from him. He frantically swims towards it. He flips it over, but his brother is not found.

He cups his mouth and yells his name.

He paddles towards shore with both boards, and gets on the sand and looks around. But his brother is nowhere to be seen.

He sits at the shore line for hours. The rain has dissipated and the sky is just a cloudy mess. However, the ocean is just as strong.

He waits for his brother to come up behind him and scare him.