How To Bodyboard

As expected, the day was perfect. Only a handful of folks scattered across the beach, the cool wind brushing against the pair of them, ruffling Kai’s scraggly hair. The only spot in a brilliant blue horizon was the piercingly bright sun. Fortunately, the pair of them now knew better than to look at it directly.

‘ARGH!’

Or so Alex thought. There was Kai, again, rubbing his eyes and sulking. ‘Everything’s all blurry again!’

‘Hmm.’ Alex pondered. ‘And why could that be, little man?’

‘The sun,’ Kai pointed an accusing finger at the star, his head moving in its direction before remembering to turn away again with a scowl. ‘The sun did it!’

‘Kiddo.’ Alex chuckled, rolling his eyes. ‘Didn’t Mom say to never ever look at the sun?’

‘I’m a big boy; I’m not scared of some stupid ball in the sky!’

‘Yeah but…’

‘You can look at it and she doesn’t tell you off!’

‘That’s cuz’ I got these things, little man.’ Alex lightly tapped the side of the shades that covered his brown eyes. ‘Better ask Mom for a pair.’

Kai pouted but continued to walk at a steady pace behind Alex for a good chunk of the stroll to their destination. Far, far behind them they could hear the distant screaming of a man who had somehow gotten himself pinched by a crab he’d hooked out of the water. Closer noises came from the whistling wind and the cries of greedy gulls.

‘Now,’ Alex said, doing his best impression of Mr Merson, specifically that all-important tone the teacher acquired whenever he began his eighty-eighth lecture of the day. ‘I know you’re too chicken to try surfing, but…’

‘Am not! It’s just…’ Kai’s eyes turned straight to the sand, which let Alex know he was blushing. ‘It’s really tricky to get as good as you at it.’

‘Hey now, I’m no expert.’ Alex replied, with a somewhat flattered smile. ‘But there’s an easier way to ride a wave, and that’s called bodyboarding.’

‘Mhm-hmm.’ Kai mumbled; his eyes now back up to Alex attentively.

‘It’s pretty simple, and you like things nice and easy, right?’

‘Yep.’

‘So,’ Alex held up his board, one just as tall as him, coloured with the blackest night and decorated with a million stars. ‘You head into the water with this, and you wait for a wave to come. Then, just as the wave’s about to hit you, raise the board up, get onto it chest-first, and jump onto the wave and it’ll give you a free ride back to shore. Any questions?’

Kai scratched his chin in thought for a moment, then raised a hand. ‘When you say ride the wave, you mean that white bubbly stuff?’

‘That’s right, little man.’ Alex tapped the board. ‘Just hop onto it chest-first and use it to jump on top of the “white bubbly stuff’’ before it hits you.’

Kai held his own board, one suited for a boy half Alex’s size, and coloured a bright red. ‘So…we can go now?’

‘Race you there?’ Alex challenged with a grin.

‘No. Like you said, I like to do easy things.’ With a laugh, Alex led Kai across the sand. What was once soft and weightless quickly became firm, damp, and heavy to trod over. Soon enough, their feet found a multitude of large and hard pebbles, and soon a stretch of ocean that sent a shuddering chill throughout them both. Kai yelped at the sensation and found himself back on shore in seconds.

‘Don’t tell me you’re the kind of guy that’ll get into a staring contest with the sun and run away from some water.’ Alex called with a chuckle.

In an instant, Kai sprinted into the waters until he was waist-deep in the sea, smirking as his hand slapped the shimmering surface and sent a dashing of droplets to Alex’s face. ‘Was beginning to think you’d chickened out.’ Alex grinned. ‘So, we gotta swim out further to get a good wave.’ His gaze suddenly grew stern as he put a steady hand on Kai’s shoulder. ‘Stay close to me, got it? Or…’

‘Or Mom will kill you.’ Kai giggled.

‘More like kill us both for sneaking out.’ Alex muttered under his breath as they climbed onto their boards and set out for deeper waters, Alex’s strokes long and strong while Kai proceeded to doggy-paddle his way through. Soon enough, they found themselves being gently pushed up and down by rising lumps, the shapes becoming bigger and more intense. ‘All right, here!’ Alex called, standing tall and holding his board in front of him. ‘So, when it’s about to hit you, jump onto it!’

The waters behind them began to build and build, a towering wall beginning to loom. And as the behemoth coalesced and foam began to emerge from its tips…

Alex thrust himself onto the board, freezing cold blasting his body all over as he felt himself hurled across the distance. It was over as soon as it had begun, and he looked around for Kai.

‘I missed it!’ Came a somewhat distant cry. When Alex eventually swam over, he was greeted by a hair-drenched and demonstrably unsuccessful Kai. ‘It just splashed me and went on.’ He grumbled.

‘All about the timing, little man. Again, when it’s just about to hit you. Hey, there’s always room for another shot.’