Storm
Riders don’t get vacation time. It’s just not going to happen. I can’t ask a
storm to hold off for a few days while I do some travelling or just decide to
veg out. There are times when I can get another person to cover my area, but
that’s always short-lived and the favor has to be repaid. That said, there are
times when the weather is fairly calm, and I can slip away.
Fortunately,
travel isn’t a problem for a Storm Rider, and the weather is perfect for it.
I’m in Hawaii in twenty minutes, and their monsoons make it easy for me to slip
onto a quiet part of the beach unnoticed. It isn’t long before I’ve rented a
surfboard, and I’m trying to surf waves instead of clouds.
And I stunk
at it. I wiped out a dozen times.
“You’re not
very good, Zephyran,” a voice in the water announced.
I stopped
my paddling to locate a Hawaiian woman in a form-fitting wetsuit, familiar in
design except the sleeves and legs were short.
“Aquarian?”
I said the word easily, the disparaging term never entering my mind.
She nodded.
“I saw you descend during the rains. You should be more careful lest someone
see you.”
“Care to
show me how it’s done? Better yet, how about you join me for dinner?”
She
frowned, clearly surprised and skeptical of the answer. “Our kinds are not
known for mingling.”
“Doesn’t
always have to be the case. I won’t be here long, a day or two at most before I
have to get back.”
“I think
not.” Her head disappeared under the water.
I resumed
paddling.
“I do not
care for poi.” She resurfaced lazily gliding in the water next to me.
“Suits me.
I hear they make a mean pig. I’m Reilly.”
“Leilani.”
So far, good vacation.