Yawning, Koi stretched out on her board and let her arms dangle over the sides and into the clear water.
It was a rather disappointing day, the sea calm though she'd managed to catch a few good waves--but now she was once again at that boring place in between decent waves, waiting for a good one to come in. But that was okay. The sun felt good on her tattooed back and the rocking of the waves was soothing. It would have been easy to doze off here and now, but she didn't want to wind up miles off shore--or mistaken for a seal by some hungry shark. It didn't happen often enough that she was worried about it, but it could happen!
Paddling lazily with her arms, she glanced up toward the sun, which was high in the sky. She should probably also head home to help with chores, but--oh!
Movement caught her eye and she saw it coming. It wasn't the perfect wave, but it was a decent swell, and with a grin, Koi paddled toward it. About time! With a quick thanks to the ocean spirit, Koi hopped up into a crouch, balancing on the carved wooden board and feeling the water beneath her, and it wasn't long before she was riding the wave.
Unfortunately, it just didn't last long.
Maneuvering skillfully, she attempted one of the new moves she'd been working on, ducking and attempting to go under the crest--and promptly ate it. Her timing was off, she was too close to the shore, and the wave crashed down onto her, knocking her off her board and sucking her under, throwing her into a barrel roll beneath the wave.
It always felt like forever, somersaulting through the water, and for a moment she didn't know up from down. But as soon as the pressure let up, her feet found the ground and she pushed to the surface and came up sputtering and spitting out salt water. Blech! So nasty--ack!
She managed to duck back under the water just in time to avoid getting smacked into my her board, which was a couple seconds behind her. Resurfacing, she made a grab for it, then sighed and waded for the shore.
Hopefully she hadn't had an audience. That had looked so much cooler in her head.