The Ocean Which Took My Best Friend

Brittany Padgett


I wake up every morning at 6 am. I live on the beach, so I just throw on my trunks and walk out the door. Today is chilly and lonely; I look at the Robinson’s house next door to see darkness. They must not have made it back, “God, I miss Trey.” Surfing just is not going to be the same without him. I turn to face the beach, the same beach which basically swallowed my best friend whole like a shark with over a hundred teeth. I am kind of nervous, but I believe that Trey is still swimming around in those waters, waiting for me to join him and sit on our boards while we move with the motion of the ocean, to watching the sun come up every morning. I zone out, thinking of all this, trying to picture him waiting in the water yelling, “CONNER, COM’ON MAN! THESE WAVES AIN’T GONNA LAST FOREVER!”

Then, I come back to reality and see nothing but the waves crashing against the pier and rocks. I have to hurry up if I am going to be ready to surf in Sunday’s Best Surfers contest. This is what we had always dreamed, but we had been able to this year; we both turned 18. We had big dreams of becoming professional surfers and getting sponsors to carry us along this journey. Sometimes, I feel like giving up; I have no reason to surf anymore; I do not have my support, my backbone. I feel all alone in these waters now, even if I am surrounded by my buddies. There is still some kind of emptiness inside me which can’t be filled. However, I never give up, because that is what this monster called the ocean wants me to do. Giving up is not what Trey would want me to do; he would want me to continue in his name. I will never forget him, his name, what he did for me, or the tragic day when I decided to skip out on training with him to go to a party at Brian’s beach house. The worst part is that I was so knocked out the next morning that I did not hear about it until that afternoon when I finally stumbled in the front door to see my mom and dad sitting at the kitchen counter under distress. When I heard the news, I just couldn’t believe it; he was my best friend, and I was not even there to save him. To this day, I still cannot forgive myself for being so selfish to ditch him for a party. If only I could have been there to save him from the ocean or convince him not to train that day, the waters were too rough. I will never know what would have happened if I would not have ditched him for those losers who think they are so cool. I might have been taken with him, but at least we would have gone together, doing what we loved best, and maybe I would not have all this guilt which keeps me lying awake at all hours of the night.