sorry for the lack of posts guys- right in the middle of exams and assignments atm. Though finishing next week, so next weekend is when its all happening. Sit tight!

(and thanks for following!)

xx

  Somewhere between Australia and China, there is a cluster of Islands. A chain that attracting adventurers from all corners of the globe, a kind of meeting place we can’t help but be drawn to. With white beaches, and glassy waves, these islands act as a rite of passage to any traveller. Some come here for excitement, others for the weather and some, come to score the perfect ride.

    Bali always provides for its visitors, in the ocean and on land. It was twilight, and I stayed on the sand watching the lights of boats twinkling on the horizon. The ocean moving in immaculate rhythm, and I could hear music from somewhere behind me. I looked down and slowly traced a line in the sand with my toe. There were still surfers out in the water, with E among them. I sat just watching the figures in the sea, trying not to think about when this trip would end, thinking when I’d have to go home. Although we’d spent time together, on and off, E was always away, and whatever fleeting moments we shared were always somehow spoiled by how much I knew I’d miss him once he was gone, and I couldn’t go with him everywhere, no matter how much I wanted to.

   Someone once stated love was a battlefield- Clichéd and not accurate. It’s more a merry-go-round. You get your ticket, costly though it is, and for a moment you are transported in a fluid movement, around and around until you come to a final standstill and you realise that although the pleasure was great, it was momentary and fleeting. I can see him in flight, taking off of the wave and I know that what we had between us was just a merry-go-round. But for now, I was contented simply to be with him.

   Maybe he sensed my thoughts, but I saw him cruise in on a wave, and come forward up the beach towards me. I traced another line in the sand and watched him come forward. He sat down, and took a drink of water.

  ‘You looked good out there.’ I said and he laughed.

  ‘Yeah I could have done better I guess, but it’s so hot.’ I nodded. Although the sun was setting, it was unbearably humid. We got up and walked back to the hotel weaving through the throngs of people ducking in and out of stalls behind where we were staying. All of them moving around one another like ants, desperate to get somewhere too quickly. E moved ahead of me carrying his surfboard, and I followed him back to the hotel.

   This town at night is amazing, like a midnight circus, filling up with every form of entertainment. The vibrancy of the colours and the way you never see the same people twice means you can almost reinvent yourself as anything; which is the ultimate traveller privilege. Wherever you go, whoever you meet,they will only see you as yourself, an individual, and not how your home or family paints you. It was amazing, and we wandered through the streets in search of food, not really caring which direction we went. We seemed to make a round trip, and ended up back on the beach, which was full of music and light. People were moving to some hidden sound, and there were fire eaters and jugglers.The space was chaotic and beautiful at the same time. We danced and danced, laughing like children, and eventually he grabbed my hand and we ran off along the beach until the blazing lights became little pinpricks in the distance. It was quiet with nothing but the gentle lapping of waves, and I looked out to sea. I could feel E watching me, and I closed my eyes.

   ‘When do you go home?’ I turned and looked at him. He took my face in his hands and kissed my forehead. I think I felt a tear welling up. Refusing to cry; I pulled them away from me.

  ‘Well?’ I looked up at him and E shrugged;

   ‘Does that matter? It’s not like we’ll never see each other again. This is just one trip, there’ll be others- shit I miss you just as much when I go away. We’re gonna go back to our island- I promise you that much.’

    I looked away; ‘we should go back.’

   He nodded. I turned to go, and saw too late the men step out of the shadows behind us.

 It happened so fast, one guy came out of nowhere and hit E round the head, knocking him to the ground. I screamed, and was grabbed from behind, the other guy fixing his hand over my mouth, dragging me backwards. I somehow wriggled free, but as soon as I took a step towards E, they grabbed my hair and smacked me to the floor.

  ‘Moneh, da moneh!’  The bigger man shouted at me, and I fumbled for my purse, all the time looking frantically at E, who seemed to be bleeding from where he’d been hit. I threw my wallet at the guy searching E who remained face down and still. The other guy picked up a stone and hit me round the side of my head. I fell back onto the sand, darkness swimming.

  I’m on the Island, in our cove. Running along the sand from an invisible enemy, trying to escape the shadows chasing us as the sun sets and is replaced by a blazing night sky. He’s sat there, waiting for me, and I crouch down opposite him. We don’t speak but I pull him to the sea and we swim together in the starlight. He grabs my waist, and holds me flat on the surface of the water, I raise my arms above my head, as I bob weightless, and he pulls me close.We move around each other, and I can feel his fingers in my hair. We emerge from the water, hand in hand and he lays me down on the sand, kissing my face, my lips, my neck. I close my eyes.  

There was light and sound from a distance, so quiet. Silver dust swirled and my eyelids ached as I forced them open. The pain in my head was throbbing dully.I tried to remember where I was. I forced myself up and looked around and saw E, motionless. The men had grabbed all they could find, and disappeared. I scrambled over the sand, trying to reach him. He was face down, and the sand was turning a dark shade, as I pulled him to face me. His eyes flickered, and I cradled his head in my lap. I was crying like crazy now, but he was alive, that’s all that mattered. Stay with me.please. stay with me.

End of part 5

Part 6 coming next week.

   The first thing you wanna do after a long trip is to dive straight into the surf, you got a board, and you’re just cruising. No turns, no technical shit, you just follow the wave through. Lying back in the water, everything just goes out of your head. Our boat was moored off some outer Indo islands, and the water must have been a mile deep; kind of summer dream. E had joined us, and we were living like lost children, without any worry.

I remember one day, we ended up paddling into one of the islands. It was the most beautiful place, with white sand framed by village huts, and small children playing on the shoreline. It’s a curious thing, when you looked at our boat, filled with all kinds of gear, and these people had almost nothing, yet they seemed so happy.

   We just kind of hung out with the kids all day, and the next we just carried on in the boat heading to a neighbouring Island. This one was like something out of a movie; it dramatically rose out of the water, with a high coastline around most of it, but with one small cove at its heart. It was perfect; untouched by humans, and still in its purest form. The sea was flat, so we moored the boat, and paddled to shore. Trees lined the beach, and birds chattered noisily in the background as we chucked down our boards and just lay back in the sand. The sea was so blue, and the sky was so clear, a real screensaver moment haha.

  The others wanted to explore the Island, so we all went and picked our way through the lush foliage, deeper inland. Annie and L raced in the lead, with me and E at the rear. It was kind of cool just wandering around, the island seemed so much bigger now we were ashore, and surprisingly more rugged. The trees only continued back for a kilometre or so, giving way to a sharp slope upwards, leading to the foot of the mountain at the centre. It was strangely quiet at this point, and E wanted to go back for water, so we turned around.  By the time we reached the beach again, the sun was starting to begin its descent, and shadows were creeping up the beach so we decided to get food from the boat, and spend the night on the island; making a nice change from the cramped quarters aboard.

    L got it into his head to light a fire, but had got his matches soaked, and me and E watched as he tried over and over to get some flames, eventually swearing and flopping down on the sand. But to be honest it was so warm, we didn’t really need a fire anyway. It never really gets dark in Indo (at least on clear nights) and the sky was so lit up I couldn’t really sleep. Lying under the stars, I had this strange sensation of the sky falling down upon me, somehow unnerving. E was asleep next to me, and the soft rhythm of his breath made him look almost fragile in the moonlight. Like I was afraid to touch him- he looked too perfect just lying there. At that moment something caught my attention, and I saw this distant shimmer far out from beneath the water. I sat up; it was like there was something silver dancing just under the surface- I don’t know if you have ever seen it, but often when the tiny plankton in the sea get disturbed, they glow. It’s almost surreal, and I got up, and went to the water’s edge to see it closer.

    ‘You going in?’ E had woken and was propped up on his elbow watching me. I turned and smiled,

   ‘Why not;’ I replied, and I pulled off my top and ran forward.

The water was warm, and shards of silver glowed all around me. I ducked under and swam away from shore, rising only to the surface to take a breath. Moonlight danced off the crystal liquid around me, and I saw a bird fly past heading inland. I turned and faced the beach, bobbing only a little out of the sea, as the water gently lapped at my body. I saw E silhouetted on the shore’s edge, regarding me for a moment, before pulling off his shirt and diving into the waves too. As he swam towards me I ducked under the surface once more and made my way up to him. The plankton was almost frantic with our movement, and it illuminated our two figures as we weaved in and out of each other, our bodies in parallel motion. His lips found mine under the water for a moment and we both rose gasping for air. He laughed, stretched out, staring up at the sky.

  I drifted away from him and noticed a gap in the rocks, glimpsing a shard of light through the formation, breaking on the water’s edge. I swam towards it, and as I got close, I noticed that it was a tunnel to another shore. Seeing the land previously from the boat, I’d thought that there was only one accessible cove on the island, but this suggested otherwise, and although I heard E calling somewhere behind me, I ignored him and swam into the cave. It was narrow, but I followed the light through the crystal water and emerged on a delicately hidden bay. Gently sloping upwards, the sand was so bright under the stars it was almost blinding, and the lagoon was framed completely by cliff, so it was cut off from the sea. The water was shallow and warm, with small shoals of fish darting back and forth; and a gentle wind ran through the leaves in the trees. It was so perfect it unsettled me; a new paradise. I didn’t even notice E behind me, out of breath as he caught up, putting his arms around my waist, I was lifted and carried up to the sand.

There we stayed, surrounded by the night.

                                                          Follow for Part 5

I hate flying- probably one of the worst flaws to have living in Hawaii; and the ride from kauai to Oahu always sucks. You’ve got the crying babies, and the narky bluecollars and the plane always seems to smell of homefries.

  I somehow managed to pursuade Mom that I was responsible enough to go with the girls to watch a couple of comps on the North Shore, because I’m surf-crazy. And I promised someone i’d be there. The North shore scares me sometimes, I think its the adreneline from just watching guys out there. I have never paddled out at Pipe, and to be honest I don’t think I want to - you’ve gotta have the right mindest, and be built like a machine. Or be Alana.

   We all ended up crashing at a friend’s which was cool, because it meant we were only a five minute walk from Sunset. E had text me to meet him, and I got up really early to watch him in the water. It was really cool out, and had been raining on and off, kind of moody weather- but the waves were firing, which is all that matters I guess. I just remember him, just sat watching the ocean with his brother. Jeez he looked too perfect, and I somehow felt really nervous to see him again. We’d only been together for one day- and not really spoken since, until he got in touch a couple of days before.

     It was like one of those surreal moments, he turned, almost in tune with my train of thought, and I kind of faltered. It’s weird, when you meet someone like that, and then your apart- literally all you do- is think about them. Shit I think I’d had trouble sleeping at night. Thats the thing when you think you’re in love. Sometimes you fantasize about about some shared passion, and other times you think;

If i could just touch your face, hold your hand- that would be enough.

    So I stood there, just staring,afraid that if I moved I’d just fall.

He started walking over, and at that moment I began trying to remember all I wanted to say, after hours of rehersal in front of the bathroom mirror I love you, I like you? ugh too corny, I wanna be with you..

    ‘Local girl, you came,’ he smiled and this time I was the once staring at the floor.He smiled; ‘I’m glad you did.’

    ‘I nearly missed my flight, but yeah, I’m glad I came too,’ I smiled a little; ‘Its good to see you.’ jeez stop sounding like such a kook. I was so nervous, why was I nervous? ….I was the one you chose, out of all the doe eyed, helpless girls you chose me, and I was lost. I can’t remember when I lost control of it, when I fell, but I do remember the way you looked at me, the way you touched me, like there was nobody else in the room, nobody but me…

‘Stay for my heat.’ His brother shouted somethingfrom further up the beach, and E touched my arm, ‘don’t go anywhere ok?’

As I watched him run back up the beach, I think I felt relief.I rang the others and told them to get their asses  down to the beach.

    The day of the final was probably the most beautiful I’ve ever had. The wind had picked up and brought with it a fierce swell, leaving us feeling blessed (and terrified). I hadn’t really hung out with E that much during the contest, he’s been so focused on getting through each Round, and I didn’t want to get in the way. I remember him standing at the water’s edge before the heat of the Final. He was just like a statue radiating steely determination, fixating on the water. It must have been around 8-10 foot, and I think I was scared for him. A wipeout here, a two wave hold-down or even just hitting the reef can be serious. Guys die on this wave, and when you watch it in the flesh; its pretty gnarly.

    It all seemed to happen in slow motion- he pulled into a monster,too deep too deep dissapeared from view and didn’t emerge again. It crashed so hard, and I had difficulty keeping my hand still. In all that whitewash, it was impossible to see if he had come up,god he hadn’t and his board started tombstoning.

   come to the surface I breathed,willing him to swim and almost instantly his head appeared bobbing as if independent from his body.

  However this first wave didn’t end up setting the tone for the rest of the heat, and after catching two beautiful bombs, E just scraped a win. It was kind of surreal, seeing him carried up the sand, I was stood hear the competitor’s area, and I saw his face searching for mine in the crowd, jumping down he made his way over, and without any thought for the people surrounding us, he kissed me.Was simply perfect.

   The beach just came alive that night, there was a celebration outside the house he was staying in and we just drank, and danced, E keeping me close like he was afraid I’d dissapear. At one point, it got too crowded, and I made my way towards the garden fence, and leaned up against it, looking out at the water. Lights danced off its surface, and shouts from people neighbouring us could be heard in the distance. It seemed like everyone was sharing the happy mood.

  E came and joined me in the night air, carrying a beer in each hand, still sporting his jersey. He handed me one and smiled.

  ‘thanks for acting as my lucky charm haha, it was cool, knowing you were watching.’

   I glanced back at him; ‘Thanks,  but I was just glad to see you- haha how cheesy does that sound!’ he laughed and put his arm around my shoulders. ‘lets get out of here,’ he said softly.

   He led me upstairs, and we crept along the corridor to his room. I remember kissing him, and he wrapped his arms around my back running his hands up to my hair. I just remember feeling so ridiculously in love with him at this point. He was kissing my neck now, with a gentle urgency, and I tugged at his shirt, pulling it up over his head. He turned around to chuck it over a chair, and I noticed a deep cut along his back.

  ‘Your back! did you not realise?’ I touched above the red, and saw it was bleeding.

   ‘Shit, I hadn’t realised,’ E laughed. ‘In too much of a hurry I guess.’ I bit my lip and shook my head.there was a bottle of water on the table, and with a towel I urged him to sit, while I cleaned the blood off his back.

    ‘Your gonna have a heavy scar,’ I said and he flinched slightly, ‘can you sit still already? I’m trying to patch you up here.’  I laughed and leaned foreward; leaving a gentle kiss on the back of his neck.

     ‘I was scared for you today,’ and he nodded,

     ‘I know. but I’m ok now right? We’re ok? Don’t go anywhere.’

 Suggestions for Part 4? Message Us.

want parts 1 & 2? visit http://randomnotesrandomstuff.tumblr.com/

      The fire had nearly gone out, but everything was lit up in that blue iridescence provided only by moonlight. The night sky here doesn’t merely twinkle, it blazes, and if you stare up long enough you feel as if in flight, gazing down at another world. I never truly understood the attraction of stargazing until tonight, transportation from reality to a place to perfect you can’t move for fear that the dream will end; and I hoped this one wouldn’t. I had no idea what had happened to the others, to be honest at I didn’t really care. It was such a warm night, so eerie, with the waves gently lapping on the shore and E next to me. We didn’t speak for what felt like an age, I looked at him, and he just smiled and looked down at his feet.

   I raised my hand brushed his hair back, and he turned and kissed me. Not in that awkward first kiss way either, but like it’s just..natural. We stayed like that for a while, and then he lay back in the sand. I stretched out too, and we just stared up at the night sky. I stayed so still, as if it really was a dream I was terrified of damaging. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the gentle rise and fall of his chest, almost as if in rhythm with the water. He put his arm around me, and I rested my head in the crook of his shoulder. He smelled like the ocean and just closed my eyes, absorbing the moment.

     The others finally came back, and L had a big grin on his face, so I didn’t really like to ask what had happened there..

 ’you guys ready to go- we should get back, its crazy late,’ Annie’s mum had left like 10 missed calls, so I figured that would be a good idea. I didn’t really want to go, but its not like we could have stayed there forever. Too much of a cliche ha.

   Everyone was kind of quiet in the ride back. Annie and I had bought our surfboards with us, but stashed our bikes, which we’d have to get in the morning. It was late, and the guys offered to drive us home. When we got back to my house,Mom was waiting for us on the front porch, looking pissed and it was with a sinking heart that I climed out and E helped me get my board out of the back.He gave it to me, and smiled;

   ‘you still have to give me your mobile,’ E asked and I laughed. After all that he still didn’t know the first thing about me! However I was so past caring at that point, so I gave him my number.

   ‘Come to the North Shore with me.’ he said, ‘come watch the comp- you should be there.’

   ‘If I can convince Mom,’ I laughed. she would need a lot of convincing. ‘C’mon!’ I said to Annie, and we both walking to the house, trying not meet my mother’s eye.

I heard the car door’s slam and turned and watched the truck drive off, and hoped to god I wasn’t gonna be grounded after this.

                                                    Part 3 coming soon!

There is a spot on the beach I just go, to watch the surf for hours. Something soporific about those endless waves calms me down. It’s a place only a few people know about, my secret spot on Kauai. It’s our antidote to the North Shore of Oahu; a stretch of sand facing out to where the ocean meets the sky and it’s difficult to tell which is which.

It’s also the place where I first saw E. I remember that day so well, I’d just finished school, and instead of going home, I took my bike and went to my beach. I could see surfers on the horizon, and they’d left their truck in the trees. I think I just sat there and watched them for ages, until a lone guy paddled in. He looked kind of young I guess, well my age, I didn’t really pay attention at that point- but he wasn’t a local. That’s kind of a difficult thing here - there are tourist spots, and local spots- if you go where you aren’t known, you have to be careful, especially on our island, it’s difficult to explain- just that its a private place always to be protected from the outside.

     He ran towards where I was sitting, and smiled at me. I waved and mentioned he obviously wasn’t from round here;

      ‘ahhh, I’m from san clemente- better waves here though haha,’

    I laughed, ‘you know you should watch out, this is kind of a local spot,’

    ‘Yeah? I’ll make sure I do. You a local then?’

    ‘You can tell huh? I live just over the hill. Just make sure you don’t stick around too late guys come here after work and stuff,’’

    He chucked down his board and sat down next to me on the sand; ‘yeah, I’ll shout the others soon. You surf?’

    ‘hahaha of course, this is my spot! Though you guys are kind of far over, there’s better rights over at the other end.’ I pointed to the horizon, and he laughed.

    ‘I guess I should go, but look out the local boys are pretty gnarly’ I said and stood up.

   ‘hey what’s your name?’ he asked

  ‘everyone calls me fin’

     ‘see ya around fin’

       Thank God it was Saturday the next day, and of course I came back with a couple of friends, the waves were shitty, but two guys, E and another were out pulling all kinds of crazy moves. We dumped our bikes in the trees and ran to the sea with our boards. The sun was out, and it was that perfect kind of day.

We paddled to the channel and just  looked at the other guys. I saw Evan pull into this little right, and just take to the air landing a perfect front side reverse.The guy he was with noticed us watching and paddled over;

    ‘haha local girls, gonna show us how it’s done?’ the first guy, I didn’t really know him, but he was a perfect  blond California kid.

    ‘for sure’ my girl Annie called, and we laughed. ‘we call the next set, sorry guys’ She pulled into a glassy four footer and did a couple of turns, and I took the next one, pulling a small floater. Evan was back in the channel by this point and paddled over;

      ‘heyy, can see the locals are out- should I be careful’ he laughed pointing at me.

     ‘Jeez you’re so full of it haha, that was some stuff you did back there though!’ he smiled and turned to catch the next wave. He never did though because at that point my brother turned up. There’s no other way of putting it but my brother is an asshole. He’s thinks he’s this hard man, with his burnout friends, but they’re just thugs. They saw us from the shore, and started shouting.

 I turned and called to E-‘you guys should go, really.’ He nodded, and gestured to the others. We all paddled in, I hate surfing with my brother, his guys just push you off every wave.

 We all got onto the beach; and I turned to E and the others; ‘just let me talk ok- I know them.’ nodding towards my brother.

    ‘The fuck are they doing here? Locals only ok?’ My brother spat at us, ‘yea get back to the mainland fuckin’ kooks.’

  ‘Shut up Jay, these guys are alright’ I looked at him, ‘they’re with me’. My Bother backed up a bit.

  ‘Get them the fuck out of here,’ and he motioned to his guys to follow him out to the ocean.

 I think I must have looked pretty psyched because E stepped forward and touched my arm;

   ‘You ok?’ I turned and looked at him. I think it was then I noticed what colour his eyes were, that perfect green hazel colour, just warm and inviting.

 ‘Yeah I’m fine. Do you wanna get out of here?’  I turned to the others, Annie and Beth nodded, I turned back to E and saw he was still looking at me. I smiled slightly and he blushed and looked to the ground.

  ‘I guess us guys should go too’ he looked up and the flicker of a smile played on his lips. ‘What are you doing now?’

  ‘Why, you wanna hang out?’ Annie was looking at Evan’s blonde friend, I smiled;

   ‘Look I know anther little cove where those guys,’ I gestured out to my brother in the water- ‘won’t come’

  ‘Hell why not’ said E’s friend, ‘let’s piss off our sponsors’

Beth decided to go home, but me and Annie stashed our bikes and got in the truck with the guys. The drive seemed to take forever, there had been a storm a couple of days before leaving the road littered with debris, it was kinda bumpy, but we were all laughing and talking I don’t think anyone noticed.

   The Cove is the tiniest beach, almost untouched by people, probably because no decent waves can get in there, so the surfers tend to leave it alone. It’s framed by high rock formations which act almost as protection from the rest of the ocean. The sun was beginning its descent, and everything was so perfect and calm. We all ran out to the sea, and I stripped to my bikini, and dived in the water. The others followed suit and we just fooled around in the water. E swam next to me, and just lay back in the water.

   ‘this place is so perfect’ he smiled,

  ‘check this out’ I grinned and swam over to the high rocks off to one side, climbing out of the water and up high enough to jump off. I took a running leap, and hit the glassy surface of the water sending up a splash. E swam over to where I’d landed. ‘you know you’re pretty gnarly.’

 ‘hahaha thanks!’ I splashed him, ‘you really know how to be nice to a girl!’

  ‘no- I mean your cool.’ We were both facing each other now.

      I could hear    Annie’s laugh in the distance, and the gentle lapping of water around the rocks. Somewhere inland a bird called and the sun was getting lower. Everything was so still. He slowly reached out his hand, gently brushing a strand of hair away from my eyes. I think I could almost hear my heart thumping so loudly, and a small smile played on his lips. The water seemed warm and cold at the same time, I was getting goose bumps and felt too hot. I remember thinking his lips were kind of dry as he leaned forward to kiss me, but that didn’t matter. Running his hands all over my back and kneading my lips with his, I blocked everything out, it was so perfect. Then suddenly out of nowhere Annie came leaping off the rock above us, causing a small tidal wave. I would have been furious, if I wasn’t so euphoric. I just ducked her and laughed; so did E, staring at me the whole time.

   It was really getting dark now, so we swam in, and I grabbed a towel. The entire time I got dressed I stared at the floor; I could feel him looking at me. From somewhere in the truck, E’s friend; L found some matches and we got some wood for a fire. It was all kind of perfect, just sat on the sand, laughing together. Annie and I hardly knew these guys, and yet we felt like we’d all been friends for years.

   ‘So you like living on the island?’ L turned to me,

   ‘Of course, it’s the most beautiful place in the world,’ I replied, all the time Efrom across the flames didn’t turn his gaze from me. He smiled, and I think I smiled back.

   Luke laughed; ‘so howd’you know those other guys, from earlier?

   I shot a glance at him; ‘one of them is my brother. So I guess I’m used to him being a complete asshole haha.’ The others laughed. ‘He was on the pro circuit but he got injured, so it’s his life’s mission to make everyone else miserable. It’s his ‘thing’ ha’. I stared into the fire, and found Evan’s gaze, he was partly illuminated by the fire and I turned and looked out to the sea, feeling his eyes following me.

    ‘Ok I’m hungry,’ L stood up; ‘I think we have some food in the truck?’ He looked at Annie, and she followed him away from the beach. I listened to their voices getting more distant. It was so dark, and so quiet, with nothing but the sound of the ocean, and our fire. E got up and moved around to sit by me. I stayed so still, just staring out to the ocean. I felt if I moved I would jinx it.

   I slowly turned towards him, and he gently kissed the side of my forehead, and whispered; ‘I’m so glad I met you.’

End of Part 1

visit http://randomnotesrandomstuff.tumblr.com/ for part 2