A short excerpt from the book I am currently working on:
The water was warm and salty, stinging the eyes while drying the mouth with the salt laced water ingress. Deep, deep blue it was and I could see below well into the depths. There the water’s blue became darker and darker until nothing could be made out at all. All at once all I could thing of was that a wayward shark or barracuda, mystified and attracted to my pearly white torso, would make themselves known to me by a menacing dorsal fin breaking the surface of the water and coming directly for me. Give your head a shake Jim, for cripes sake. Yet it did put the fear of mortality into my very being and made me swim just a wee bit faster. Before long I caught up to Nina and arrived safe and sound, and in one piece at the wharf. We found a ladder and climbed up about ten feet to the top with the old weathered wooden planks that made up the surface of the pier. We sat there for a while close to a bollard, caught our breaths but said nothing. Nina looked at me, smiled a sweet, sweet smile but remained silent. I could detect a small but distinct tinge in my chest as I looked into her deep blue eyes. She smiled at me again. Her body glistened with the salt water droplets that covered her exposed skin in this afternoon tropical sun, soon to evaporate. Across and to the west of us lay Akaru among a few other boats and to the west of that rose the tall, green hills that marked the western fringe of Nawiliwili. It was beautiful. Nina was beautiful. All was right with the world.
“Y’know all I could think about swimming over here was that some big ugly shark had its sights on me.”
“Thanks for that” Nina said. “I’ll remember that on the way back.”
She laughed at me. “Sharks?” Her hand touched my forearm. I could sense that a connection was brewing between us. She smiled again. Looking out across the water, her blond hair looking much darker now as it hung in a matted wet cluster down to her shoulders. Cleansed and clean by our salted bath. She squinted, and then held her right hand over her eyes shielding them from the glare of the tropical sun. Her body had the colour of a light brown tan. Healthy and strikingly attractive. Her tan highlighted her looks and her youthful charm.
“That felt great.” she said. “We’ll have to get back soon though. I think I heard Nigel talking about going into Lihue for dinner.”
I followed her gaze. I could see Nigel placing a ladder over the side. For our benefit I guess. Angie was still tanning herself on the foredeck.
After a few minutes, Nina, without forewarning, dove off the pier and into the water, heading back. I followed suit. In a few minutes time we were back at Akaru. Up a wobbly ladder, a “Jacob’s Ladder” I was told, and into the cockpit. “Welcome back” Nigel said. How was it?”
“Except for the sharks, not a bad swim” Nina said, as she looked at me then laughed.
We did go into Lihue that evening. Somehow we got ashore in our small dingy. Nigel had to make two trips – first with the girls then back for me. We walked the short distance into town and had dinner at some greasy mom and pop joint. Not very Hawaiian or tropical I would say. Nigel had his eye on Angie but she didn’t reciprocate his advances. Nina flirted with me the whole time but my pathological shyness and inability to interpret her womanly ways almost sabotaged those effort. After, we all just chilled and roamed around Lihue, a sleepy hollow of a place. Not much going on. There were some poster signs around town advertising the latest surfing movie or documentary, a very popular sport in Hawaii. Almost Warren Miller style short films but centered around the surfing world and not skiing. Soon, just after dusk we headed back.
Check out these two books:
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SJ…Out
A condo in downtown Toronto.