Surfing Story
Matthew Ryan Fischer
Cameron was getting cold, but that only made sense when you
considered that she was sitting on a surfboard near an arctic glacier. She had
been waiting all day for her chance to glacier surf, but so far she had had no
luck. There had been some smaller chunks that had broken off and fallen to the
sea, but she was still waiting on a proper iceberg calving to occur – one that
would produce large enough waves to allow for a minute or so ride. That was the
hope anyway, but so far no luck.
She had been out for over three hours already. The full wetsuit and
all its accessories weren’t keeping her from feeling the effects of the
weather. Her legs were cramped and body was sore and the cold was tightening up
all her muscles. Even if a wave did happen now, she wasn’t sure what sort of
experience it might be. Her legs might fail her as she tried to stand. This was
taking too long. It wasn’t supposed to take this long. Or at least that’s what
she had read. There were plenty of surfers and thrill seekers that had
documented their trips to Alaska to do just this, and all of them had gotten
results. Cameron didn’t want to leave empty handed, so she had stayed out on
the water. All she was getting for her troubles was frozen.
Cameron had been nervous and excited about the prospects of what
was to come. But that sensation had long since passed. She had been bored and
tired. Then she started to daydream. She wondered if anybody had surfed a
tsunami before. She was pretty sure someone would have had to have tried by
now. Not that tsunamis were all that predictable, but there was always some
warning time after an earthquake. Somebody somewhere must have had a surf board
handy. Right place at the right time – or something like that. She would have
to look that up later, if she didn’t forget. Maybe she could become a tsunami
chaser and travel the Pacific islands hoping for a chance to ride some waves.
There were tornado chasers, so why not tsunami chasers? She decided that she
would most likely end up dead if she tried that.
There was supposed to be a loud boom or cracking noise. That would
indicate that the calving was about to begin. She rubbed her arms and legs and
tried to stay warm. If this didn’t happen soon, she was going to call it a day.
She could come back the next morning. No sense torturing herself over it.
That night Cameron sat at a campfire and looked at the stars.
Later she had a dream that she was the first woman in space to land on an
asteroid. She got to surf in space on an asteroid. When she woke, she smiled.
It was a great dream, a wonderful passing fancy. She had no idea what it was
like in space or how fast asteroids traveled or if it was even possible for a
person to ride one without getting thrown from it. But she knew how people
thought – if it was possible, somebody someday was going to try it. She would
love to get a chance to be that person, but unfortunately she hadn’t dedicated
any of her time or efforts to studying space or science or math. Still, if
there were ever some Hollywood story that came true where NASA needed real life
surfers to land on an asteroid for some reason, she would totally sign up for
it. She’d be the best asteroid surfer the world had ever known.
It made her a little bit sad to realize her dream had been much
more satisfying than the Alaskan trip so far. The dream was impossible, but it
made her happy. This trip was supposed to work, but it only made her sad. It
was difficult and dangerous and potentially deadly, but people had done it
before and they would do it again. It was possible. If she caught a wave today,
she would only be following in other people’s footsteps. Somehow that made the entire
experience worth just a little less. It was all too possible. No matter what
happened today, she had already talked herself out of the full value of the
experience.
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