The Nice

Aloha Brittani!
Mahalo nui loa for your EXCELLENT short story. I'd give you and A+ for sure! I was holding my breath for you when you were trying to get into that cave! Such are the follies of our youth. A lady of a certain age, like me, would NEVER attempt a stunt like that now!
We are planning our move to Kauai and I know in my heart that it's the right place for me to be. I can see my two children telling their tales, like you have, only I hope they spare ME the details because I would just freak out if I heard they tried something like a cave dive "sans oxygen!"
Again, mahalo for this entertaining story. Keep writing, you have a great talent!
Pauline

blarson816 wrote:
When I was 17 and 18 I lived on O'ahu. It was such a great experience,
but it's hard to explain how you truly feel. Anyway, I'm taking a
creative writing class and I wrote a bit about my days on the island.
Hope you enjoy it!

Brittani

A Hui Hou- Till We Meet Again

In my dreams she waits. Perfect, tranquil, basking under the sun,
swaying in the breeze; red and fiery gold glimmer across her heavens
as the sun takes one last peek down on the tiny island. And there she
waits, like a ghost, a faded memory from the past, haunting with the
promise of felicity if I ever return to her shores. A sudden chill
crawls over my naked toes as I lie in that foggy realm between wake
and sleep. The familiar shapes of home begin to unfurl in dawns weary
light. Once again paradise has escaped me; to remain as a mere fixture
of my imagination only to be reveled in by the drowsy depths of
slumber. Native Hawaiians believed their islands to be gods, for how
could a creation whimsical of Eden itself be anything other than
divine. Waking to realize it was all just a dream was not always the
end of my fantasies. There was once a time when I dreamt of the island
and woke to the island as well. Everyone has that one summer where you
are old enough to have some sort of independence but young enough to
not feel guilty at simply being preoccupied with having a good time.
At 17 it would seem I had captured the life people hope to have in
their retirement years; and yet, days after graduation, I was the one
flying to what can only be called nothing less than a spectacular
experience. Looking back rekindles those days when the island was my
home, my first journey away from Arizona , a place I had known my
entire life.

Being on an island can be overwhelming for a girl from a place where
rain is hard to come by and the only lakes are man made. I stared out
the window, awestruck at the miles of ocean surrounding us, crashing
at the shores of this one, special point. Natalie smiled over at me
with wind tugging at her straw colored hair. She'd spent countless
hours in an old dentist office saving her paychecks week after week.
Dad seemed to purchase things for me as a way of shoring affection. I
believe this to be his way of apologizing for much time unspent
together."We'
re here Can you believe it " The last six months had
been rough ones. Mom and Dad had separated. Many nights I fell asleep
to the soft whimpers of my heartbroken mother in the room opposite
mine. Her tears beckoned my own tears during a time when the cozy,
happiness of home had turned suddenly cold, and unavoidable changes
choked away life as I had pictured it growing up. High school ended.
It seemed as though in a sea of blue caps and gowns the last bits of
childhood had been swept away, replaced by a fear of not knowing what
was to become of me. As a child walks the delicate threshold into
adulthood, an overwhelming fear of the unknown arises. This was the
state I had found myself; trying to cling on to something solid only
to find I had been deceived. At least I had this one last summer.

Natalie and I drove through the cities, rainforest, and coastlines
surrounding Oahu, until the tiny town of La'ie emerged with its quaint
homes dotting the country side like a colony of ants in unkempt chaos.
Outside our new home a large Samoan woman smiled upon our approaching
car and we, burdened with loads of clumsy luggage strung about our
bodies carefully clicked our high heels along the driveway eager with
hopes of remaining upright. Bags hung from shoulders, while bulging
suitcases rolled on behind, and purses, filled to the brink, spilled
over with all those necessary articles a young woman must have. Later
on our roommates would mock us for having brought so many clothes, but
to us it seemed logical to have outfits perfectly adept for every
occasion summer might put forth. The lady grabbed our hands, pulled us
together in a warm embrace. She told us to call her auntie and while
it was somewhat unusual for me to bestow the title of family upon a
stranger it somehow overturned any sort of misgivings I had about the
downfalls a foreigner might face in an exotic world. With a kiss on
the cheek, and a gift of gardenia leis, she declared her happiness in
meeting us. I'm sure meeting your landlord is rarely comparable to
coming home from war, but in Hawaii the aloha that blankets the
islands is mimicked down to its very people, and meeting someone for
the first time or the hundredth is always done with a kiss of the
cheek coupled with a smile. Natalie and I were the last two girls to
move in for summer term. Already the house had taken on the air of
college life.

Our home had been decorated in piles of People Magazine, and was
satisfactorily stocked with the necessary foods required in sustaining
any college aged person such as pizza, pasta, and chocolate. It felt
like summer would pass lightly like the breeze that plays about the
palms and as time passed, and school started, a comical array of
courses demanded our constant attention as we scurried to and from
school for classes in hula, ukulele, and Tahitian dancing. It was like
taking a crash course in island life 101, and our home was the
designated Mecca for the bands of summer BYUH students earnest in
mastering these serious studies of diversion. While the beats of Bob
Marley played throughout the homes of nearly every household we
encountered we had brought the island inside with snapshots of us
frolicking on the beach, swimming under waterfalls, sauntering through
rainforests, and camped out around beach bonfires. Our adventures were
an endless tribute to that time in youth characterized by a touch of
innocence only found in those yet undaunted by the rugged times life
calls us to face.

In a cove, nestled between stretches of white sand and groves of palm
trees, a reef lives beneath the waves. Growing up with the Little
Mermaid had invoked in me the beginnings of what was to become an odd
fascination for the ocean. It seemed when everyone else was watching
90210 I had succumbed to my "inner nerd" by watching specials
documenting the ocean. This once useless knowledge now seemed useful
as I proudly named all the different species of fish swimming in front
of me. On this particular day, my friend Ku'i accompanied me promising
that with his local knowledge I would see things in the cove normally
hidden to the common spectator. Down I gazed upon a sphere bustling
with fish, urchins, and anemones. Moorish idols patrolled their
favorite feeding grounds while parrotfish crunched away at the coral.
Ku'i pointed to a baby eel as used its impish grin for a snare in
snagging some sorry fish. Every now and then a lone sea turtle
strolled by, curiously looking on as though I were a strange animal
before disappearing again into the deep blue. The reef became a
lively spectacle of entertainment equally capable as any Broadway show
had ever been.

Shark's cove sounds much more fearsome than it actually is. It lives
on as a reminder to the perfection that can only found upon nature's
own creative canvas. I had been to the cove many times but apparently
was still unacquainted with a few hidden areas in and around the area.
Ku'i swam close. I looked down to a pair of sea serpents wriggling in
a riot of black and white. I held my breath and swam deeper taunting,
pressure with defiant stokes towards the sea floor. I always was the
one to jump a cliff first, or swim the farthest away from land. Ku'i
followed until we couldn't hold our breaths any longer. I was sure he
was happier at sea than on land. "Brittani Have you seen the
underwater caves yet?" I hadn't even heard of water caves in the cove.
"Like try go see?" "Of course I would" "Follow me."

The water became darker, going from baby blue to sparkling sapphire as
we swam further and further away from land. A piece of onyx rock
jutted out towards the open sea. I looked on but the opening to a cave
failed to find my eyes and I couldn't help but be confused.

"Where is it?" "Strait ahead." "Where?"
"You have to swim down first to get to the opening."

I looked on. As the tide rolled out, the tip of a large mouth yawned
open, gurgling waves in and out of its rocky face.

"Ku'i, are you serious? "We have to swim down first? For how long?"

"Not too long, just a few feet. We'll swim down then through until we
come to an air pocket."
"But how long does it take?"
"Only a minute or two. Just hold my hand, don't let go, and whatever
you do, do not swim up. Sharp lava rocks at the top will cut you up."
"Are you sure I should do this?"
"You don't have to."

Always eager for a good story I contemplated my future boasting
surrounding my dangers of an underwater cave. Of course the feeling of
impending doom was hushed by adventurous pride, and I fell prey to
precarious desire of seeking the unknown.

"No, no. I want to do this. I just need a minute."

I breathed in and out, preparing myself for the journey. I thought to
myself a minute or two is really but a moment, and I was pretty good
at holding my breath. "Ready?" "Ready." Ku'i grabbed my hand and down
we swam. A few feet below the surface an enormous black hole opened
up. Like the mouth of a giant it sucked us in through its gaping jaws
as we pretended to be explorers on some perilous adventure. Light
eventually ebbed itself away until an inkish water smothered us into
complete and entire blackness. I shuddered in the coldness as it crept
about my body like death itself was pricking my skin, testing me to
see if I was brave enough to keep on going. The only warmth came from
Ku'i's hand tightly grasped into mine. We paddled on and on. I
pictured the sharp rocks hanging overhead, waiting. My short legs
fluttered through the darkness while this momentary blindness brought
about by shadows made certain our vulnerable situation in the sea and
I did not know what dangers and what creatures lurked in the tunnel.
These fearful thoughts continued to clutter my mind until I could only
think of one thing, how great it would feet to fill my lungs with air.
A moment in time had turned into an eternity. I saw no sight of an
ending and my body desperately needed release from this watery tunnel.
It felt like suffocating and in these dark moments I thought of my
family. Blake and Dallin were probably practicing baseball or making
water balloons in the scorching heat. Celeste and McKenzie were
probably trying to find rides to the mall or the water park. I had
always felt like I needed to be their example, and be there to help
them, especially since we had found ourselves at a liminal period
between what we were and what we were to become. I remembered being
a little girl and playing mermaids in the pool. What a gift it would
have been to grow a fin now and swim out of this forsaken hole. I let
go of Ku'i's grasp and floated up. Drowning is a panicky
feeling and yet curiously peaceful. I thought to myself that this
was the end, but even as I slipped slowly upward, I wasn't convinced
this was the way I would die. I think that even in the face of death
we are determined to challenge our mortality, and in dark doom rarely
do we believe we will actually die. There was nothing I could do. My
legs stopped kicking, my arms stopped paddling. My still body rose to
the sharp ceiling above. I think I may have blacked out at this time
but it is hard to know. Suddenly I felt a sharp jab on my head. The
pain called me to consciousness and all the danger surrounding us. I
was pushed downward from the ceiling by Ku'i who was apparently a
better breath holder than I. My eyes opened to see his body
silhouetted against blue brightness as I was pulled away from the dark
and into the light. In the dim cave a faint shimmer of sun poured down
into the water like a beacon of hope as it danced and dallied across
the darkness. I reached towards the light, my lungs yearning for
redemption while I made my way through the water. Finally I surfaced
into a cavern of air and sea. The blue sky peaked down into a large
hole at the top of the cave, and Ku'i and I climbed our way out.

Summer ended. I had many more adventures on the island but none so
treacherous as the cave. Friends say I came home with confidence and I
have to think that perhaps after dealing with death the trivial things
are less of a burden. Before returning home that summer, I tossed a
purple lei into the sea. It is believed that if a lei thrown into the
ocean finds its way back to land they who tossed the lei will find
their way back to the shores as well. Sometimes I put on my lava lava
and dance about my home doing the hula. I know I'm not the same as I
was then, but I'd like to think traces of that summer have somehow
been imprinted upon my being. I live on , knowing the lei I tossed
into the sea that day did indeed find it's way back to the soft beach.
I have to believe this means that like the lei I will once again touch
the white beaches of my island home. At present I am left with the
memory of a summer that bridged itself between my childhood and what
comes after. I am grateful for my experiences there and the people of
Hawaii for allowing me a precious moment upon their sacred land.