Chapter 46 46: The Infinite Distance

Chapter 46 46: The Infinite Distance
\[ K A R A \]

My mind was lost as soon as I read those words, and suddenly I felt so lightheaded. Did something happen to Ryder? My stomach twisted at the thought and I was having trouble breathing. With trembling hands, I dialed my mom's number, and she picked up after the first ring.

"Mom?" I said quickly.

"Honey, I've been trying to reach you—" I could sense the distress in her voice, that riled me up even more.

"Mom, where are you? What's going on?"

"I'm taking Peter to the airport. Honey, Ryder's been in an accident,"

"What?"

"He's been reported missing off the coast of Mexico, they said it was a surfing accident. They've been searching for him for hours now. Peter's gonna fly out there tonight—"

"I'm coming!" I didn't even know how my brain had processed all that.

All I heard was; Ryder was in an accident. And all I knew was; I wanted to see him.

"But honey—"

"Tell Peter I'm coming with him, I'm on my way," I didn't even give my mom the chance to protest, I cut off the line and quickly ran to my closet. I grabbed the first thing I saw in there and frantically slipped them on. I was making a lot of noise and Cole had woken up.

"Kara...? What's going on?" he murmured.

"I have to go,"

"What? Where?"

"The airport,"

"But it's... 2 in the morning. What's going on?"

"...Ryder's been in an accident— in Mexico. I have to go— see him," I spoke as if I was having an asthma attack.

Cole shot up from the bed immediately. I grabbed my phone, wallet, and anything else that I thought I'd need, shoving them off briskly into my bag.

"Kara, stop," Cole's hand reached out to me, trying to calm me down.

"I have to go, I have to—"

"It's late, I'll take you to the airport in the morning,"

"Cole, I have to go see him, now,"

"Kara..."

"Cole! Please let me go," I said, twisting my arms around so he would let go of me. "Please," I said again.

He knew I wasn't taking no for an answer. He sighed and loosened his grip on my hand. I turned to my heels in an instant and headed for the door.

"Hey, wait! I'll come with you—" I heard him yelling out after me.

But I didn't even stop or answer him, I just ran out as quickly as I could. My mind was racing like crazy, and I only had one thought: I have to see Ryder. Now.

"Wait, Kara!" I heard Cole's voice calling out after me again.

But I just kept on running.

Images of Ryder filled my head; maybe he was lost, or he was hurt, and he was all alone.

Oh God, I hope he's okay. Please let him be okay.

I made it out to the streets. I was panicking. I didn't know where I was going, but I just knew I needed to go.

Please, I have to go see him. It can’t just end like this. I need to see him one more time... Please, let me see him just one last time.

And as I made my way across the street, suddenly I heard the high-pitched noise of tires screeching, and when I turned around— all I saw was this great blinding light.

"Kara!"

And everything went dark.



\[ R Y D E R \]

The lights were blinding.

It was the sun. It was shining so bright, I had to lift my hand up to cover my eyes.

Where am I? Am I dead already?

Apparently, I was lying on a bed of soft golden sand, and the ocean was just there in front of me. I was at a beach.

So this is what heaven looks like?

Weird. And this place looked eerily familiar. I felt like I had been here before.

"Ry?" I heard a familiar soft voice.

I turned around, and I saw her standing there.

"Mom?" I croaked.

It was my mom. She was smiling from ear to ear as she jogged over to me. She didn't look sick like the last time I remembered her. She was beautiful, and there was so much life in her eyes.

Is this real right now? Am I really in heaven? Well, this must be it.

"Ry, baby, what are you still doing here? I thought you wanted to go surfing with the older kids?" she said as she sat down next to me.

Oh. Wait. This is just a memory. I remember this.

I was nine years old and my mom hadn't been sick yet. I remembered at this age, all I wanted to do was to learn how to surf the bigger waves. I just got my first 'thruster', a surfboard made for the advanced surfers, and I carried it around with me everywhere. I went down to the beach every day with it, but I never once took it out to the water.

Why? Because I was too goddamn scared to.

And then one day, mom came to the beach and found me sitting alone on the sand, with my new board next to me.

"I'm not going," I told her.

"Why not?"

"Because the older kids made fun of me. They said I wasn't good enough,"

"Oh baby, that's not true,"

"You don't know that. What if it is? What if I really wasn't good enough?" I said, sulking, and kicking my board slightly to the side.

Mom took a deep breath and sighed.

"Do you love to surf, Ry?" she said softly.

"I do,"

"Well, then that's all that matters. You do what you love, you forget the rest,"

"But ma, they were saying all these things. Like how there were sharks down there. Or... what if I drown?" I huffed. "Even dad said so, he said surfing was stupid,"

Mom shook her head gently and smiled.

"Ry, people in this world will say all kinds of things that will discourage you. You can't stop them like you can't stop the waves from coming. But you can learn to surf. And you can learn to love the ride,"

Mom's long brown hair was blowing gently in the wind. She turned her face towards the ocean, and she looked at it as if it was hers.

"Look, baby, look at how amazing and vast the ocean is. It's full of possibilities," she said, spreading her arms out wide. "Now you can sit here all day and worry your life away like the rest of the world. Or... you can go out there and find that thing that sets you free. And remember Ry, you have to believe in yourself or none of this matters,"

Then she turned to me, tilting my face up to see hers, and said, "And if you need a little push to start, well, baby I believe in you,"

Her words put a smile on my space. Quickly, I linked my tiny arms around her stomach and pressed my face to her shoulder, holding her tightly.

My mom was right. She was always right. She always knew the right things to say.

"Thanks, ma. I... I love you,"

"I love you too, baby," she said as she ruffled my hair.

I pulled away and grabbed my board before standing up. With a newfound sense of purpose, I glanced back over to her, and she was waving her hands at me, looking very proud.

"Go get her," she winked.

I ran with my little feet as fast as I could. I threw that board into the water and paddled out against the current. I could see on the horizon that a big wave was hurling violently towards me. I braced myself, took a deep breath, and I went deep into the water, and let the wave pass above me.

As I brought myself back up to the surface, I took a deep breath and I realized, the bad wave had passed. I made it to the middle part of the ocean, where the good waves were. Now I just had to wait for my chance, for that one good wave to come along.

In surfing, I learned that waves were like people. Some waves were worth chasing, some were worth passing, and some were worth waiting around for.

Some waves brought you incredible joy, while others hit you hard and tossed the life out of you. But that was okay because there was always that one magic wave worth riding for. The one wave that could make you feel alive, the one that could take you some place new, to a place of endless freedom, a never-ending summer, or to some unknown rapture.

A wave like her.

All was peaceful and calm out in this blue water, until suddenly, I heard this thundering noise coming from above. All of a sudden, the wind was blowing like crazy all around me. I opened my eyes and looked up above to see this bright white light and—

Wait, is that… a helicopter?

"We found him!" I heard a man’s yell coming from above.

I squinted my eyes to see clearer, and I saw this a figure of a man, coming down to approach me. He was wearing a bright yellow and red jumpsuit, with the words 'SAR' written on his back.

Wait a minute, is this even real right now? God, are you pulling a fast one on me again?

"He's alive!" the man yelled through his helmet, then he turned to me and said, "Don't worry sir, you're going to be alright, we got you,"

Whoa. Did you hear that?

The lights were shining brighter than ever and another man in a similar uniform came down from the helicopter. They grabbed my body and tied some ropes around me, securing me tightly. And the next thing I knew, I was flying.

Holy shit.







\- - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -