Pulse of Heroes (21 page)

“A what?” Michelle asked, imagining trying to
carry a huge mattress into the tent.

“One of these,” Dave said while unrolling a
gel-like foam pad.

Michelle had never seen one of those before.
“I wish,” she whispered, “but I’ll survive.”

Dave handed the pad over to Michelle and
insisted she use it. She didn’t want to. She didn’t want to seem
like some helpless princess waiting for someone to save her. But he
wouldn’t give up, so eventually she took the pad and thanked him.
“Goodnight,” she whispered, and he wished her the same. Michelle
lay there for a while, listening to the crashing waves and telling
herself not to worry because there was no way the water could make
it all the way up to the campgrounds. She was being silly. So she
decided to enjoy the sounds of nature and with that thought in
mind, she fell asleep.

Michelle was awoken by noises coming from
outside the tent. She had slept amazingly well, and was hoping that
it was still early enough in the night for her to go back to sleep.
She heard someone telling some else to keep it down. There was a
lot of hushing, mixed in with the sound of zippers. Zippers? What
if someone was going through their stuff! Michelle turned around to
shake Samantha awake but her sleeping bag lay empty and so did
James’. She looked over to where Dave was sleeping but his sleeping
bag was already rolled up neatly. She was the only one left in the
tent. Where did everybody go? What did she miss? When she got out
of the sleeping bag it was very cold and she hoped that the
daylight would bring warmer temperatures. Her bones creaking,
Michelle unzipped the tent’s large plastic zipper and peeked out.
James and Dave smiled at her.

“Morning,” James called out, half whispering.
Michelle stepped out of the tent and stretched out her limbs. It
was freezing.

“How was sleeping on that pad?” Dave asked
proudly.

“I thought I was in my own bed.” That was the
point, he told her smiling. Michelle thanked him again for lending
her the gel foam pad thingy.

It was 5:50 AM and they had about another 45
minutes till sunrise. Samantha and Liz returned from the bathrooms
with their sleeves pulled down over their fingers for extra warmth.
After seeing how messy their hair was, Michelle realized that she
must look like hell herself. She instinctively began combing
through her hair with her fingers.

“You look great, if that’s what you’re
worrying about,” Dave said. Michelle blushed a little, and got to
the business of making breakfast. Nick had coffee brewing and it
smelled like heaven. Eventually the aromas of cinnamon and coffee
drew Rob and Marion out of their tent and they all ate.

After breakfast they packed all their gear
and valuables into the Suburban and drove to the launching area.
James would return the vehicle to the campsite and then meet them
on foot. Although the small cove was only a 10-minute walk from
where they were camped, they wanted to be the first to scope out
the area, and carrying their gear by hand would slow them down.

The first rays of light appeared from over
the hills, and when James got back he told them that he had run
into Tim at the small convenience store next to the campground.
Tim’s group was setting up to launch from a cove right around the
corner from where they were. Thinking of Tim, Michelle wondered if
it would somehow hurt his feelings if he saw her hanging out with
Dave. It wasn’t like she and Tim were going out or anything, but
something in the back of her mind told her that she should avoid
doing anything that would stand out in Tim’s eyes.

The group headed down a narrow ravine that
ended abruptly. To get to the water they had to walk around jutting
rocks and slippery tide pools. The sea was relatively calm, and
once they were down at the edge there was a large rock forming a
natural bench that was perfect for a few people to sit on, mainly
the girls. Liz was the only girl that was actually suiting up and
going out diving; in her wetsuit she looked like everyone else. Six
strange long-legged black seals.

Michelle walked to the water and bent over to
touch it. The temperature was freezing. She couldn’t imagine how a
wet suit was going to be of any help, but she kept her doubts to
herself. The mere thought of being immersed in the frigid water
sent a chill up her spine. The divers grabbed their floating
devices and slowly waded in. Liz yelped and turned to yell at the
girls.

“It’s freaking freezing!” she called, but
continued after the guys just the same. One of them, Michelle could
no longer tell the difference, pointed out to an outcropping of
large rocks that was about 15 feet away. The first person lay down
and began paddling on top of his floater. He gave the group the
thumbs up sign and they followed him like ducklings in a row.

Michelle was a little jealous. She didn’t
have the skill to join them, as her swimming was better suited for
poolside events. Marion pulled a little speaker set-up out of her
backpack and plugged in her MP3 player. The music helped sooth
everybody’s nerves. It was dangerous out there in the water; nobody
was going to argue that fact.

About two hours must have gone by when the
divers returned to the shore empty-handed. It was still too dark,
Dave explained to Michelle, and with the thick green kelp all
around them, it only made things that much harder. Free diving,
especially in such demanding waters, was an activity that was
physically draining and everyone needed to rest and eat something
before heading back out.

While they waited for the sun to make its way
higher in the sky, they noticed a lot of traffic and activity above
them on the main road. Many people walked by and peeked over the
edge to see if there was any space left. Because this stretch of
coastline was very rocky, space was scarce and there were hardly
any sandy beach areas available, especially on opening day. The
little cove that Michelle’s group had claimed was very small and
shaped roughly in a semi-circle. To their left there was a huge
outcropping of boulders and rocks that stuck out about 30 feet into
the water. Samantha noticed someone heading towards them from that
direction and thought it might be Tim, and she was right. Once off
the rocks he jogged towards the girls. “Hey!” he said with that
infectious smile.

“Hey there yourself, sailor,” Samantha
answered.

Tim asked them if they were having any luck
because Marcus had pulled up two 8-inch specimens which were
already sitting on ice. Michelle wasn’t really listening to what
Tim was saying. Instead, she was busy looking out in the water,
hoping that Dave didn’t see how close Tim was sitting next to her.
He was practically leaning on her shoulder. “You should really come
check out our spot,” he told Michelle. Once Tim left, Marion and
Samantha teased Michelle about Tim having it bad for her.

“If I was single you’d have to use one of
those abalone bars to pry me away. What are you thinking girl?”
teased Marion.

“Look at you,” Samantha added, “Two great
guys are running in circles around you and you sit here and tell us
you’re not sure.”

“You guys just leave me alone,” Michelle said
in a cheery voice. “I’m too young to deal with any of this.” The
girls burst out laughing. “And besides, just because Dave was nice
to me doesn’t mean he likes me like that.”

Marion told Michelle that Dave was very
impressed by her, and that he was actually a decent guy and wasn’t
into just ‘hooking up’. He was looking for a relationship.

“Well that’s not me,” Michelle replied. “I
can’t even tie my own shoelaces let alone carry on a relationship.”
Was that statement true, Michelle thought after she said it? Was
she really not ready to be in a relationship?

Somebody whistled from the direction of the
water. Nicholas raised a huge abalone shell in his hand, waving it
around like a Grammy or an Oscar. The rest of the divers surrounded
him and were checking out his catch while the girls clapped and
cheered from the beach. After that first catch everyone felt even
more motivated to bring in their own Oscars, and they dove back and
forth for hours.

By noon the sun’s rays were sparkling on the
surface of the water, and the day that had started out a bit foggy
had grown clear and blue. But unfortunately the wind had started to
change as well. It began picking up energy and the small gentle
swells were turning into four-footers and then six-footers. The
local park and recreation officers used a loudspeaker to let
everyone know that by the late afternoon they were expecting waves
that could measure up to 11 feet. Only the very experienced or
those with a death wish would dive under those conditions. Luckily
for the group, they still had a couple of hours and 2 abalones in
the cooler.

Michelle noticed that the tide was beginning
to rise and she knew that if she was going to cross over the
boulders to Tim’s side she would have to do it and not wait any
longer. She asked the girls to watch her stuff and told them that
she’d be back in less than an hour. When Michelle got to the
boulders she realized that the narrowest way across was also the
furthest out towards the water. She had two choices. She would
either have to climb those huge rocks, which she wasn’t sure she
could do, or wade out into the water and cross at the narrows. She
chose the narrows.

Michelle walked across the narrow ridge
barefoot because her shoes made it considerably more dangerous. The
black rocks were quite beautiful. They had been carved and polished
by wind and water for ages and some of them looked like black onyx.
There were also perfect little indentations for her to put her feet
into that looked as if they had been made by people crossing over
the rocks for thousands of years. But still she had to be careful
where she put her feet because sometimes there was slimy seaweed
hiding under the shallow puddles and that made them extremely
slippery. Here and there she saw small crabs scurrying to get out
of her way. Michelle chuckled to herself because they looked so
serious, running sideways. Just silly water spiders, she told
herself. Nothing to worry about.

When Michelle made it to the other side she
immediately spotted Tim but she wasn’t sure if he could see her.
She shouted out for him but he definitely couldn’t hear her. The
waves were getting sketchier and the white foam crashing on the
shore drowned out her voice. Eventually, someone from his group
spotted her and she could see them pointing in her direction. Tim
immediately headed over. He was very happy and wanted to show her
all the abalones they had caught. Anna and Marcus were there, but
Rachael was a no show; she too was suffering from that horrible
flu.

Tim and his friends had just sliced some
fresh abalone meat, sashimi style, and offered some to Michelle.
She wasn’t really sure about the raw part of the eating, but when
everyone started teasing her that she was a chicken she said she
would give it a try. Tim squeezed fresh lemon juice on the slice
and dunked one end of it in soy sauce. He cut the piece in two and
gave Michelle one half. He was going to eat the other one with her
for support. Everyone was watching and they counted to three. Both
Michelle and Tim gobbled down their share. Michelle chewed on the
abalone a couple of times before swallowing it whole. Tim was
already done with his and stood there waiting for Michelle to enter
her verdict.

“Well,” he asked smiling, “what do you
think?”

In all honesty, Michelle preferred the
battered deep-fired style better, but there was no way she was
going to tell that to Tim. “Awesome,” she said, grinning. Tim was
satisfied. Did he really like her, Michelle wondered? He was
definitely trying his best, and oh so sweet.

Tim wanted to go in for one more dive because
he had only brought one abalone up. By law, he had two more to go.
California was very strict about the abalone market. It was illegal
to sell them, and they had to be of a certain size. The rule was
three abalones per day and no more than 24 in one season. That was
the only way to ensure that the abalones wouldn’t be over fished
till extinction. There were always some people who got really
greedy and tried to catch more than what was allowed in order to
sell them on the black market. Michelle had heard that some were
selling for $150 each in San Francisco, especially in Chinatown.
Anyone that got caught with too many got a steep fine, and some
even served jail time. It was definitely a craze, she concluded,
Personally, Michelle didn’t think the abalones were all that. They
were tasty, but she preferred Alaskan King Crab.

When Michelle realized that it must have been
over an hour since she had crossed the rocks, Tim was already back
in the water, so she asked Anna to let him know that she had left
and to give her thanks. It was getting cold again and the blue of
the sky had faded into a drab gray. The wind had picked up and the
surf was definitely growing wilder. By the time Michelle got to the
rocks, the tide was covering the path she had used when she first
crossed over. Michelle stood by the water’s edge, trying to measure
how much time she would need to dart across before the waves came
in. The waves weren’t too big but they sure made a lot of noise
when they crashed, spraying salty foam everywhere. She counted the
waves for a while and figured out that they came in sets of threes.
If she crossed over the rocks as soon as the third wave pulled back
to the ocean, she should have enough time to reach a safer spot and
then wait for another set to pass before jumping down onto her
small beach.

Everything went as planned. Michelle counted
the third wave and as soon as it started receding back into the
ocean she hopped over two medium sized rocks and then across a
small tide pool and onto a decent-sized boulder. She waited for the
next set of waves, nervously watching as the water edged almost to
her feet. She only had to wait for two more waves and then she
would be home free. The whole idea of standing out on the narrow
edge of a rock so far from shore and seeing white water all around
her got Michelle thinking that she should have probably taken the
longer way back. She could have climbed back up to the main road
and then descended to the small cove from the same path that they
had used that morning. She hadn’t counted on the tide rising so
fast. While watching the second wave return to the ocean, she
realized that she was midway between the two groups, and that from
her angle she couldn’t see anyone from either party.