Title: Breaking Away
Author: Nureek
Rating: PG (wow, that's a first)
Disclaimer: If I owned Andromeda, well we won't go there, but I'd be rich and would not be on this board, I'd be in Tahiti, with my mini-Harper, catching some waves. But I don't own Andromeda, or any of their characters. Man disclaimers are depressing.
Summary: Short Harper bliss and my dream day/night. Yes I said bliss, I know, also a first.
The bright star filled sky hung over head as he felt the wonderful cool water lick across his toes. He looked up to see a giant moon staring down at him, brightly illuminating the
endless ocean that stood before him. The moon smiled as it pulled on the water, creating
perfect wave after perfect wave. The bright blue water showed the world it's secret
hidden treasure below through it's crystal clarity. Brightly colored corals and fish happily
went about their lives, swimming, feeding, procreating, all oblivious to the ragging emotions that the lone human was current fighting.
Dylan had betrayed him, he had abandoned Brendan once more, and he was still about to
face his irrevocable appointment with a very painful and violent death. Yet, staring out at
the ocean and the star filled sky with the weight of his board in his arm, a strange sense of calm was creeping up on him. As each dieing wave washed over his feet only to rush back out to the great sea, they took with them a small bit of his pain.
His blue eyes lit up as he saw the end of the set, the pause between waves. Grabbing his
board with both hands, he began to run out into the ocean, sucking the sweet salty air into
his lungs. He thrust the board out in front of him and leapt belly first onto it's waxy surface. His heart soared as he flew over the water on the smooth underbelly of his board, his baby.
Heart racing, arms paddling as fast as they could, he struggled to make it to the line up in
time, before the next group of waves would ravage the area. He was almost there when
the ocean began to grow in front of him. Bigger and bigger the swell grew, it's top
getting sharper and sharper.
"Crap," he hissed as he paddled faster hoping to beat the falling wave.
Too late. He grabbed the front of his board and pushed it under the translucent blue water
with all his might. Farther and farther he pushed his body and board down. He felt the
tug of the monster rolling over him, the water rushing up his nose, the smile tugging on his lips. All was forgotten; all his pain, all his hurt.
He pulled up on the nose of the board and broke through the now calm water's surface. A
waterfall was created on his face, shaking his head, the waterfall became a rain shower.
The smile was still glued to his moon lit face.
He had made it past the breakers and was now sitting on his baby, glancing between the
radiant sky above and the rolling ocean before him. Thousands of stars shone through
the moon's brilliance. Galaxies even shown themselves, shooting stars dashed across the
heavens, and a faint gaseous nebula could be seen off in the distant. It's constantly
changing colors hypnotizing all that happened to glance in it's direction.
But the gaze was broken by the wave, his wave, hurdling towards him. It was perfect;
glassy, clean, a-frame, about five to six feet high, and miles long. The smile grew even
larger as his eyes lit up with desire.
He jumped down from his sitting position and began to paddle to the perfect spot for his
perfect wave. It approached as he turned his body so the wave would overtake him.
It lifted him up, pushing him faster and faster until his paddling was futile. Jumping up, he steadied himself on the small board that was flying in the rushing wall of water. Air was whipping through his hair, sea spray was flying in his face. He rushed down the wall, then stalled, positioning himself to go deep inside the belly of the beast. The tube.
Water surrounded him an all sides, only a small opening in front of him gave him an exit.
Pushing himself and board ever towards the small circle of light, he raised his hand and
thrust it into the wall of the monster. Cool water enveloped the hand as it created a
massive tear in the beast. But the powerful creature just healed it's self as if nothing had
ever touched it, as if no human or other creature could ever harm such a being.
The smile grew larger as his speed picked up. The hole was growing smaller and he didn't want to be trapped, to be engulfed by the beast. He put his weight on the inside of the board urging it to go faster, faster. He was almost clear of the tunnel of water when the colorful reef below him dropped out of site. The contour of the wave followed the lead of the reef and dipped sharply sending the fragile human flying off the safety of his board.
He hit the water with a crash. The once friendly beast now engulfed the human, sending
stinging water up ever opening in the poor man's head. New oxygen was now missing
from his lungs as the beast turned him upside, right side up, and every which way. But the lone human didn't fight the Goliath, no, he went with it. He contorted his flexible body to whatever his powerful foe wanted. He let himself go in whatever direction the indecisive beast ordered. All he did was to slightly try to steer himself upward, to let the natural buoyancy of his body save him.
Still the smile grew bigger as the water rushed over his sensitive skin. Even the growing
ache in his lungs could not dull the glowing joy that was growing in his eyes. He was free, he was home.
Finally, his grinning, gasping face broke through the surface of his heaven. He sucked in
the salty air as the glowing twinkling sky welcomed him back to the other world.
The beast was kind enough to have deposited him away from the brake zone, away from
the fury of its fellow beasts. His surfboard bobbed up next to him, having been along for the whole ride attached to his ankle.
The human resembling a drowned rat swam up to his board, jumped back on and stared
out at the endless sea. All his troubles long forgotten, all that existed was his survival, the
star-filled heavens above and the rolling hills of crystal clear water that stood before him.
The set broke and he once more began the mad rush out to sea, away from his life, away
from the pain.
Duck diving once more under a crashing wave, the smile grew even larger and the glow in his eyes challenged the brightness of the shinning moon above.
He was home.