Dawn Patrol

Sample

Chapter 1

Elias watched the surf in his truck’s headlights as he yanked his wetsuit up. The neoprene constricted at the bulge of his calf and again at his thigh. The familiar rubber smell made him smile, it was time to play. A dark spot out on the water indicated Elias wasn’t the first one here; Ro had beaten him to the point again. He yanked the zipper up his back and rolled his arms around in the suit, settling it over his chest. It tugged his shoulders back and wrapped tightly around his body. A layer of wool inside would keep him warm in the cold water. The tide had reversed a few hours ago; it now rushed quickly back out to sea. And with the pre-dawn offshore wind, the surf couldn’t be better.

Elias stashed his keys under the wheel well of his truck, checked that the lights were off, and hiked across the sand with his longboard. It was heavy, handmade from cedar and glassed at a local shop. Elias had never seen another board like it. It never failed to gain a few compliments on his way out of the surf at noon.

His toes hit the ocean water. Even with the sun still down, the waves were warmer every day. In another month, he could ditch his wool-lined suit for a thinner two-millimeter one. If the summer was as hot as they expected, he might even downgrade to board shorts and a rash guard. He waded in to his knees, then thrust the board ahead and let himself glide. The weight of the longboard punched him through the waves as they came. He turtled through a big one, letting the crest pound the underside of his board as he kicked, inverted, beneath it. Everything quieted under the water. The waves curled across the surface like thunder clouds, raining bubbles like mist. Then his big board bobbed him up again and the clouds returned to crashing waves.

Elias paddled beyond the break and everything settled. Here the ocean bobbed, but it didn’t churn and push like the waves. Even the wind was calm. He skimmed over the smooth surface and sat up on the board beside Ro. The man’s afro slumped around his shoulder, soaked through. “Morning,” Elias said. “Rolled up early?”

Ro shook his head. “Naw, you know that track to trail they’ve been working on by Trudeau and Main? It’s open now. Took me ten minutes to get here.”

Elias tisked, “That’s unreal. I’m spending Friday nights at your house now-on.”

“You’d have to make friends with Jo-jo. I’m not kicking her out just because you’re visiting.”

“That dog needs to learn some manners.”

“Maybe you do.”

Elias grinned. “Yeah, probably right.” In the distance, a shadowed hump of water approached. “How’s the curl been?”

“Not bad now that the storm front is gone. There’s a rip off the stairs—”

“Yeah, I saw it on the way in.” Elias turned his board toward shore, ready for the new set of waves.

“—so there’s some turbulence, there,” Ro finished.

Elias dug his arms deep into the water. He arched off the board with each stroke, driving himself forward just ahead of the wave. The water picked him up from behind and he lunged to his feet, angling the board to the right. His rail cut in as the wave stacked. He shot forward just as the crest curled. Elias had to duck or be swept off the board. He tucked in, hand skimming the water behind him, as close to the crush as he could get.

The rip bobbled the water and Elias leaned back to avoid pearling the board. He wasn’t a fan of eating sand his first ride in. Then he was through the riptide and shore approached swiftly. Elias leaned forward for speed and popped up over the front of the wave. He grabbed his board as he landed and tucked himself under, turtling the following wave. His lungs stretched and burned. He gasped for air at the surface. Elias laughed as Ro cut his shortboard into the whitewash at the top of a wave, drawing a wake of bubbles like a four-year-old, scribbling his way across the water.

They paddled back out together.