Things are not always what they seem.

OK, so I'm surfing in San Diego. I'm on Ocean Beach, about 50 meters from the Pier. I'm feeling really good. I had achieved my goal, which was

1. To get to California, and

2 to learn how to surf.

So there I was with the world at my feet. Staring out at the sunset, all was right with the world. That is until I saw the fin. The very distinct sign of a shark, the lone fin hovering above the water line. About ten meters in front of me. I swallow hard and hope vain hopes that I had only seen 'light off of the water'. Breathe, breathe, OK. I look to my left and there it is again, that fin rising up out of the surf, circling me. My body floods with adrenalin, horrible scenarios fill my mind. I need to get onshore. I need to get there as soon as possible. This becomes harder than I had thought. I'm not much of a surfer yet as I'm still just learning, and wouldn't you know that the larger and easier waves to catch are now all gone, and all I'm left with is paddling in.

Fear grips me hard and I hear my Sergeant's voice in my ear "Are you just gonna curl up and DIE boy? EVERYbody dies, HOW are YOU gonna die? On your KNEES?" Fcuk no! I'm not going down with out a fight. I didn't then and I'm not now. I begin to rationalise and come to grips with my situation as fast as I can, I'm gonna die, it's gonna be painful but at least I've lived. I swear under my breath about how hard I'm gonna fight that bastard, I'm gonna make that shark have to choke me down. I'm going to take at least one of his eyes as a prize before I get to hell.

I turn my board around and start to paddle in still hoping for some kind of miracle wave from on high to come a scoop me away from this nightmare. The fin pops up again only this time it's about five meters in front of me between me and the shore. There's no mistake, I'm a target, my blood runs cold and I accept my fate alongside of the fact that I'm gonna be bringing hell with me to the fight. I see the fin turn and come even closer as it tries to manoeuvre behind me. I stop paddling and turn my board to face it. It's heading straight for me now, my heart is pounding like a jack hammer in my chest. I pull my legs closer into my body and I begin to raise myself up on the front tip of the board. I can see it speed up, it's only a few meters from me now. I see a nose break up thru the water, it's a round skinny nose, and in the midst of my prepared fury it starts to squeak and click at me. It was a dolphin!"YouSonOfaBitch!!!" I shout out loud at it still coping with my anger. I collapse on top of my board for a minute trying to catch myself. I feel it brush against my legs, then a sudden jolt of force from the side knocks me off of the board and into the water. The undertow shifts me underwater so I grab the ankle line and pull myself back to my board and get on. I search the water around me for the dolphin, nothing. I start to paddle back in, I really need to sit down for a minute I'm exhausted. As I'm paddling in towards the shore I can see to the right side the dolphin pops it's head back out of the water and chirps at me some more. After feeling the water swell I look back and see a beautiful wave coming my way. That's it, I think. I'm gonna ride that one in. I scramble onto my board with the little energy I have left and somehow I catch the wave and it's beautiful. I am gliding across the water and for a second I am at one with the universe. Then I feel a heavy kick from under my board and suddenly I fall head first into the washing machine, tumbling thru the wrong side of the wave, now I don't know up from down, once again I follow the ankle line back to my board."god damn Dolphin!" I curse it out again. As I get a grip on my board another wave crashes down on me. Slowly I make my way to the shore, and finally step onto the sand.

"Ouch!" something bites my foot. I look down, nothing. I pick up my foot and look at it. I have a large cut on my foot, most likely from scraping the coral on my way out. Suddenly everything makes sense and I feel like a fool. All that time I had been bleeding into the ocean, bobbing up and down in the water like a meat Popsicle, an open invitation for a shark meal, and that whole time that dolphin had been protecting me and warning me to get in, and all I did was curse and swear at it.

Some things just aren't what they seem

I think I saw him again that time in point dume, but that's another story.