Hi Everyone! I’m Kelly Parra (www.KellyParra.com) and I’m here to help celebrate with Linda for her release of DEATH BY BIKINI!! Yay! I thought I’d write a quick beach short story based on my September 2008 release, INVISIBLE TOUCH (MTV Books). Since I don’t have any copies yet, if you leave a comment, you’ll be entered to win a Rubik’s Cube. Why a Rubik’s Cube, you might ask? Read on… :)
Ocean Fate: An Invisible Touch Short Story
I was twisting my old, scratched Rubik’s Cube on the far edges of Montecito Beach when I spotted Anthony. He sat alone on the rocks, distant, the wind teasing his dark hair. He was all tan, and toned. His tank top tucked in the back pocket of his jeans.
He watched the waves as if he couldn’t pull away, and it was the same for me with him. There was a time I would have been afraid to go near him, a time I would never have felt the sand between my toes again.
I tamped down the guilt that tried to rise within me. It was apparent, we both thought of someone else at this beach. He finally turned, and met my eyes. I gave a wave, his mouth curving as he stood.
A surfer walked in front of me, his wet suit pulled to his waist, with his board propped at his side. He shoved his board into the sand, and twisted toward me to pull up his suit.
I blinked--and was swamped by the sounds of the beach echoing against my eardrums. The sizzling rush of the waves on shore. The squawk of seagulls above. The flapping of the wind against a beach umbrella. A lone child’s high-pitched laughter.
My pulse slowed, my breaths thinned. The shoreline behind the surfer dulled to gray, and the surfer brightened. Glowed.
His eyes are blue. The color of a tropical ocean. His skin a sun-kissed golden, hair the color of sunflowers. My eyes moved down his throat to the center of his bare chest. There an image formed, a sign for my eyes only.
The surfer in the water, struggling to stay afloat.
He turned away and the image vanished. I gasped for air. My fingers clenched the cube as I watched him jog toward the waves with his board. Too close to my own nightmares.
“Kara, what’s wrong?” Anthony was in front of me, his hands on my shoulders. He knew I’d seen something. It wasn’t the first one I’d experienced, and it wouldn’t be the last.
“The surfer.” I swallowed hard. “He can’t go in.” But I couldn’t move forward.
“Don’t worry, I’ll stop him.” He jogged to the surfer, grabbed his arm. The surfer jerked away from Anthony. They exchanged words, the surfer shrugging Anthony off and started in. Then Anthony tackled him in the waves.
I winced, and did my best to shove away my fears as I forced myself to run toward the ocean. My heart pounded in my chest, my palm sweaty around my cube. The damp sand under my feet had me tensing. The chilled water swallowing my ankles made me shudder.
Still, I grabbed at Anthony as they wrestled. “Stop!”
Anthony finally pulled away, breathing hard. The surfer sat, holding his right side, his chest heaving, too.
“What the hell, man?” the surfer said, his face pale.
“I’m trying to save your life,” Anthony muttered, and spit out salty water.
The surfer winced, hunching forward.
“I think you need to see a doctor,” I told him.
“Yeah.” He glanced at us. “Thanks. It’s not from you. My stomach’s been bothering me, but the waves called to me. If I would have been too far out…” He shook his head. “How’d you know?”
I flicked my eyes down at Anthony. “I saw you favoring your side.”
Anthony scowled. “And if your punkass would’ve just listened—”
