Life should be lived

The next day

Half way already down to the beach, walking through the forest following the trail that had been sort of overgrown by grass. Marley and I finally made it to the soft sand that filled in between my toes and her paws. It had been two weeks since I surfed here, only because school had been keeping my busy with extra homework. Jack was already walking in so I sat there with Marley next to me watching he rip it up before falling off a couple of times. It's 5:17, he's been surfing for a while now, so I decide to try my luck.

I grab my board and wave back to Marley as I run in, she's barking at me still sitting there. I'm knee height in as I look up and see Dad and Tim waving , I wave back before paddling up to Jack.

"Only took you an hour" Jack says sarcastically before I flick water in his face.

"How is it?" I ask before seeing an on coming wave.

"Tell me after this" he says and pushes himself down and under the wave.

I catch it slowly making it to my knees, they standing up. This feels amazing as I ride this wave, but it comes to an end as I jump off into the blue water below me. Opening my eyes it stings a bit, but I'm sort of used to it now. I come back up out of the water and sit on my board.

"How'd it feel?" I hear Jack say from a distance.

"Like I never left" I replied before looking back at him. The sun was rising above the water, glimmers of light touched my skin. "We have all day" Jack said paddling up next to me.

I looked at him and his wet brown hair dripping onto his cheeks. "I know" I replied before moving my hands through the water.

I looked over to see him staring at me before a wave knocked us both of our boards and into the water. Lots of bubbles escaped my mouth before coming up back to the waters surface. Jack came up moments later looking at me a bit funny.

"You look like a mermaid under water" he says.

"How would you know what they look like?" I asked, before he smirked and and turn around.

"Exactly" I said.

We both went down and under the next wave, the waves seemed to be crashing faster and faster. "That book your mum has in the lounge room" Jack said after coming up out of the water.

"Show me when we get back" I said before looking back at Marley still on the beach. I caught the next four waves they went back to the beach.

Jack always took a while surfing, he started when he was twelve and loved it so much he taunt me when I eleven. Ever since then we somehow almost always surf together.

I rubbed Marley's side and kissed her cheek before calling out to Jack.

"Jack" I called out looking around the surface.

Maybe he had just fell off his board into the water, moments later I still couldn't see him. I rushed out, leaving my board behind I was faster without it. The water still murky, I saw a large tail swing pass me. Bubbles rushed out of my mouth, I push myself towards the shining light coming through the water. I came up out of the water onto the surface, gasped for air and then got tossed under and rolled around by a wave. Shiny scales drifted past me in the distance, I shut my eyes and then open them to see nothing but darkness.

I pushed myself up off the sand to the surface again, coming out I gasped for air, I couldn't see Jack anywhere. I swam above the water towards the sun where I last saw him over two minutes ago.

I took a deep breath and went under again, further and further I went down. I saw Jack floating there with his board jammed between the reef rocks. I couldn't undo his strap it was stuck, I saw a shiny metal object glimmering underneath me before reaching down and grabbing it. It was an old rusted fishing knife, with an necklace of some sort stuck to it by clusters of coral.