The sun shone brightly, shards of light leaping off the heaving blue ocean and attempting to stab his eyes into blindness. The sand beneath his feet squelched into his toes, only to be washed away with the receding foam. The crowd cheered loudly while the announcer’s voice squawked through a bullhorn; somewhere among those voices were his own family’s, cheering him on even though the competition hadn’t started yet. All he heard was the crashing of the waves.

The horn sounded. He took a deep, brine-laden breath and began to run towards the thundering wall in front of him. The other competitors were little more than other splashes of sea spray. Afterwards, they might be braggarts, or sore losers, or rivals to a trophy. But for now, there was nothing and no one. Just a boy and his surfboard, bobbing on the waves.