[GH85Carrera]

Back when I was about 15 we lived in Hawaii. I figured I should try to go surfing, but I had no car or surf board. Dad was an Air Force officer and either busy working or out of the country on another TDY trip. Mom knew a couple that had two boys that surfed all the time, and my mom set it up with their mom for me to go surfing with them. The were several years older than I was and both were experienced surfers. They had a spare surfboard someone had given them but it was HUGE. I could barely carry it.

Mom dropped me off at their place and I was squeezed into the back seat. They were an Air Force family as well and we went to a military base at the far western tip of Ohau near Kaena Point. There were only a few surfers out there and all had military ID. I soon figured out they boys though of me as me as just a pain in the ass little kid that was keeping them from having fun. They had zero interest in teaching me to surf.

The younger of the boys told me to grab the board and we all started paddling out. The way the waves were coming in, all that the "good" waves were a very long way out. My mistake was I figured I was safe with them. We finally get way out there (about a mile) and they all catch a wave and vanish. I figured now is the time so I caught the next wave, stood up for about a second, and fell off.

The board just kept going and I looked around and I was alone and treading water. I could see the shore so my only option was swim. I started swimming but I knew it was a long way to go. There is no stopping to rest, swim or die were my options. I kept swimming. I was going with the waves but swimming in the open ocean ain't easy or fun. I was exhausted but I kept saying to myself, keep swimming or you are dead.

I tried every swim stroke possible to use different muscles and after what seemed to be forever I finally crawled out of the ocean up on the beach and lay there gasping. The older kid came over and asked me where the board was. I told him in no uncertain terms I really truly honestly could not possibly care less about the fuc*ing surf board. I had damn near drowned out there and that surf board was nothing I cared about. They were happy to find it floating around down the beach. I went and waited by the car until they were don and I never said a word to them again.