it’s glassy and still, the sun is already starting to dip lower behind the clouds over the mountains behind us. my littlest daughter’s tiny fingers are gently pressing into my neck, her body is draped across my back as i paddle my surfboard across the top of the water. slightly up ahead, her sister is sitting on the front of my husband’s board, calling out to her to look for turtles. we get to the island and they paddle out for waves; we hang on the beach and start a treasure collection. i hear a whoop and see my eldest standing on the front of the board, zooming by on a clean little wave, shrieking to go again when they stop. a rain squall passes over us and i chuckle to myself that my littlest doesn’t even notice, too wrapped up in the shells she has clutched in her tiny palm. after twenty minutes they paddle in and swap, my littlest assumes her spot on the front of my husband’s board, ready to charge. they paddle for a little one and i can see her face, intrepid and thrilled, as she soars by us. “more papa more”, and i hear him laughing as she jumps off the board into the water after another wave. it’s finally my turn, and the sun has sunk even lower, the rain has fully passed, everything is all milky pinks, purples, dark aquamarines. i paddle for my first wave and hear my eldest cheering as i pop up, clapping as i ride and she yells “TEN TOES” as i walk up the board - i manage a cheater five and then fall, both of us laughing. i’m paddling back out and see one coming, i yell to my girlfriend and her husband to paddle and they catch a party wave with her daughter perched on the front of her husband’s board. we go back out for more, again and again, perfect clean little waves over and over. it’s dusk before we all paddle in, the girls all recounting their favourite waves, my littlest with her head resting on the back of my neck and her arms wrapped around me as i paddle us in. twenty minutes later we’ll be post showers, cozy, eating spaghetti and dunking homemade cookies in milk before an ever so slightly late bedtime. i have no photos but commit the whole evening to memory, it feels like a dream come true that i never even knew i dreamed, and i marvel at the fact that for my daughters, it is just another Thursday.
prguitarman
jacobvanloon
jbbartram-illu
kianamaiart
kaledo-art
ellievsbear
