The Mermaid's Mirror - L. K. Madigan [39]
Magic, thought Lena. It feels magic out here. She has to be here.
But the ocean remained empty, a huge, shifting blue and gray tapestry. No other living creatures appeared.
The sun will be going down soon, she thought. I should catch at least one wave. I can paddle back out after.
She couldn't bear to think that the mermaid was not here. Not yet.
A nice big swell was forming, and Lena began to paddle quickly, using butterfly strokes as the wave rose up. She popped up at the last minute, and then she was flying, racing through the dark blue barrel, faster than she had ever gone. This wasn't so much like riding on the back of a dolphin as it was falling off a house.
The lip of the wave began to crash just behind her, then the walls of white water caught up to her, and she was flung under water with what felt like an avalanche of ocean on top of her. She felt her leash snap, then she was tumbling, waiting to see which way was up.
Ani should have been here to see this wipeout, she thought. After what seemed like a full minute but was probably only a few seconds, she was able to orient herself as to which way was up. She swam toward the surface, hands above her head as Ani had taught her, in case she came up under her board.
She broke the surface and took what felt like the biggest breath she had ever taken. She could see Max's surfboard near the shore. But she'd hardly had time to take a second breath when the next wave was rushing toward her. She ducked. This time the wave surged harmlessly over her instead of picking her up and smashing her beneath. She broke the surface again and began to swim for shore.
Exhausted, she picked up Max's board and trudged onto the sand.
"You got nads, girl," said dreads-guy. "Either that, or you're just plain baked."
The weak sun would be setting any minute. And she had broken her leash. So that's it, she thought. I can't go back out without a leash.
But this is why I came, another part of her protested.
Lena turned her face to the water again. She felt oddly unafraid as she walked back into the sea.
"What the hell!" cried someone.
"Hey!"
Ignoring the calls, she lay down on the board and paddled out. Her arms were trembling with exhaustion, and it felt like she was pulling them through thick mud, trying to stay in one place. She struggled past waves as high as a two-story house, turtle-rolling several times to let the waves break over her.
Finally, she made it to the main point break. She barely had time to turn her board around before another big wave was rising up behind her.
Legs shaking, Lena hurried to pop up. She had just steadied her feet on the board when she found herself racing through the barrel again.
She maintained her balance on the board as long as possible, feeling the lip of the wave curl ever closer to her head. Then it was breaking over her ... and she was wiping out.
The houseful of water seemed to push her down endlessly. Lena did not panic; she knew that she would surface eventually. You can hold your breath a long time, she told herself, Ani's words reassuring in her mind. Sure enough, the churning waves shot Lena waist-high out of the water, but she barely had time to take a breath before she was being sucked down under again. She felt her body being driven deeply into the underwater hole once more.
You can hold your breath a long time, she told herself again, more desperately this time. She felt that she should have been washed out closer to the shore by now and was scared to see that she was still in the same spot when she finally did surface.
This is it, she realized suddenly. I'm in the Cauldron.
Then she was sucked beneath the waves again. The waters churned, tossing her back and forth beneath the surface like a rag doll in a washing machine.
Pem was right, she thought, as a terrible weariness came over her limbs. I should never have come.
She was too tired to struggle to the surface again. She was not even sure which direction was up. She knew she