You, You, You

BREAKERFALL

Izzy’s P.O.V. [Maui]

This is perfect…  I can breathe here…  I haven’t breathed—really breathed—in seven whole years… Izzy thought to herself as she sat on the deserted beach in front of the rental property on the north shore of Maui.  Feet half buried in the warm sand, a towel draped over her scarred belly even though there was not a soul around, she sat strumming her acoustic softly for the first time in a long time.  She didn’t feel like working or producing anything—she just played for the sake of playing.  Her fingers cried out for the strings the second she stepped off the plane in Hawaii, and the first thing she did after dropping her bags at the house she was renting was to go into town and find a music shop.  She hadn’t a single instrument with her—they were all in storage back in Seattle—and she felt compelled to buy one to have with her on this vacation.  She couldn’t explain it to herself, she just stayed open to the strong call towards the music and spent her mornings and afternoons playing and gazing at the waves… and she thought of what on Earth she would say to Eddie when the trip was over.

She made a promise with herself to call him, and now the memory of his comforting embrace and the depth of his bedroom voice travelling to her from across the pillows wouldn’t leave her for more than a few brief seconds each day.  Izzy knew better than to resist—she knew that something larger than herself was whispering out for her across time and the distance she had placed between herself and Eddie.  You don’t fuck around with the direction of the wind—when it starts blowing, you adjust to it.  Even if she was unsure how to feel or what to say when the time came, she knew that trying to call the universe’s bluff was a potentially disastrous idea.  The feeling was too strong not to be trusted.

Concentrating on her chord shapes and closing her eyes against the fear of the unknown future, she tried to clear her busy thoughts with the help of the sound the surf was making as it met the shore. It was serene… for all of another thirty seconds.  Izzy’s tranquility was interrupted by the sound of roaring engines up at the top of the cliff, directly behind and to the left of her private beach.

Whipping her head around, startled and annoyed to think that someone could get so close to her little getaway spot, Izzy saw what looked like the bare frame of a jeep zooming along the edge of the outcropping above with two passengers in tow—one blond, one brown-haired—and another vehicle riding right alongside.  What a couple of irresponsible assholes, riding so close to the edge like that, she thought to herself as they rode out sight just as quickly as they had arrived.  Probably some young kids trying to scout out a surfing spot.  What they probably didn’t know was that this particular cove produced some of the biggest, wildest waves in Maui.  Only the best of the professional surfers could tackle those beasts—anyone else was asking to drown or smash their head into the rocks.  Eddie had told her that on one of their weekend vacations to Hawaii… that was how Izzy knew of the rental property nestled in the trees behind that particular beach.  Does everything have to remind me of Eddie?  I came here to clear my fucking head, Izzy thought.  

Once again pushing all thoughts out of her mind, Izzy went for the heavy lifting.  As the sound of the jeep engine faded further and further into the distance, she ventured back into her playing—but this time she started to play one of her old Spin Control tunes, adding her voice in and singing at the top of her lungs out to the sea…

Eddie’s P.O.V.

As much as I hated giving interviews and making media appearances, I couldn’t resist this one.  I’d been asked to do a special for Sundance and I almost immediately said no, until I heard it would be documenting me in Hawaii with Laird. I couldn’t say no to that golden opportunity—surfing and sunshine with the one and only Laird Hamilton—even if it had to be rushed and sandwiched between legs of the Avocado tour.  I knew it’d be well worth the hectic travel and use of my precious off-the-road free time.