Many mammals saw others taking trips to Pawaii or seeing it on television, hoping that one day in the future that they would be lucky enough to be able to see what its islands had to offer for those that visited them. This was especially true when wintertime rolled around as it always did, its chilly temperatures causing some to dream about when the warmth that the seasons of spring and summer would eventually bring.
This was also true for Emmitt Otterton and his wife and pups. Like other mammals that they knew, they had always wanted to take a vacation during the colder months to somewhere that was much warmer than where they lived. In the neighborhood that they called their home, a short drive outside the city of Zootopia, the weather they had gotten was a whole lot more than just the small share of falling snow that merrily went with the holidays; what had blown in from up north had actually hit them pretty hard.
It was then that a solution came to the gloomier weather in the form of an early Christmas present that had been bought for everybody. It went without saying that all four members of the Otterton family could hardly contain their enthusiasm when it was decided that they would be taking a vacation to sunny Pawaii. The family of mustelids rushed to pack up and board the flight when the time for them to do so came, and it was an impossible feat to wipe the smiles off their faces from the moment they stepped out the plane and took in the lush sights of swaying palm trees.
Roughly twelve hours away from the cold that his family had gladly said farewell to, Emmitt was lying on the large beach towel his wife had packed as he soaked up the rays of the sun smiling down upon him. He grinned as he sat up and took in the sights of the waves as they rolled inward and splashed upon the shore. The Canal District that he and his family had visited on occasion had its fair share of spots that were like going to the beach, but none of it could possibly compare to the color of the Pawaiian waters. There was just no way something ever could after he saw it for the first time in the flesh and not on a postcard.
He looked over to his left and saw his two pups, Eva and Finn, running around and giggling at all the fun they were having, leaving tiny, webbed paw marks in the thicker dunes of sand. A short distance away from them was a small sandcastle that had been built by the two of them, nearing the completion of its construction.
Emmitt got up before walking back into the sand and joining them. "Oh, that looks amazing, you guys," he said as he bent down to look at the sandcastle up close.
His young daughter Eva smiled back as she pat the sides of it with the plastic shovel. "It's almost done, Dad," she replied. "Need a few more touches and then our castle can be done."
"I've got some more, Eva!" the pup's brother Finn, who was walking back up with his green pail full of sand. He dumped it in the empty spot in between the two main mounds of the sandcastle, only for the sand that was inside of it to come out in a pile and not in the shape he wanted it to. "Uh-oh."
"Finn," Eva said to him as she shook her head. "You're supposed to use damp sand, remember? That's how you shape it together."
"Oh, yeah." Finn chuckled back innocently at her sister as he rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a tad embarrassed by the mistake. "I forgot."
"Hey," Emmitt said to the two, "what do you say I help you get this sandcastle looking even better?"
"Sure, Dad," answered Finn as he picked his Paul back up. "Eva says we need some seashells for it so it looks pretty."
"Well," his dad replied, "I think there's some really nice ones that washed up by the water that you could use. Why don't we go down and take a look?"
"Yeah, let's go down and see!" Eva said excitedly before running out from the thicker sand and towards where the shells had been scattered along the beach, Finn joining her a second later.
"Wait up for me, guys," Emmitt called back to the pups as he ran back up to where they were a bit slower than they did.
It was when he was walking behind where they had went to that he saw them stop suddenly and inspect a spot in the sand that seemed to stick up peculiarly. He joined them as the two were pointing at it and talking to each other.
"Hey, Dad," Finn said when he saw him walking up to him, "check this out. Eva thinks she found something buried underneath this sand."
"Really?" Emmitt inquired as he looked back at his daughter. "What did you two find?"
Eva patted the portion of sand in which she believed something was directly underneath. "It's got to be something big. Maybe it's the shell we need to decorate our castle."
"Dig it up, Eva!" compelled Finn as he jumped up and down, awaiting to see what it was that she had possibly discovered.
Eva leaned down and stuck the plastic shovel into the soft sand a good bit, digging some of it up to reveal just what she had presumed it was. What had been under that spot was what looked like a piece of a sand dollar "Wow..."
Emmitt clapped his paws together when he saw her hold out the shell for him. "That was a good find, Eva. Put that one in the pail and we can put that one on the castle when we walk back."
"Hey, do you think we'll find some smaller ones for the sides?" Finn asked his sister. "You're like those mammals that find things with those detectors."
Eva grinned back at him and nodded her head, holding up that plastic shovel that came with the pail as if she were an expert at excavating things. "Leave it to me," she remarked. "My shell-finding instincts say we should go..." She scanned the horizon both ways before outstretching a paw to the right, out by where the water splashed upon the sand further down. "That way."
"Then it's down there we look," replied Emmitt before he joined the pups as they continued the hunt for seashells.
It was all about waiting for that perfect wave, the one that just felt like the best to ride out of all the ones that had already came or would come afterwards. Although she hadn't been in the environment for surfing in a very long time, Olivia Otterton hadn't forgotten that little philosophy that was told to her when she first learned how to do so. Being an otter, a species that was already great at swimming and such, surfing was something that had she had taken up in her younger years. When she saw that she could rent out a board and take it out onto the water, she figured she would give it a try after awhile.
Dressed in her bright purple swimsuit, she continued to paddle on her board further into the turquoise ocean waters while she awaited the moment to ride one of the waves, something she hadn't done in quite awhile. It was after some time went by that she saw a wave that was a pretty good size start to roll up towards her and become larger. She started to paddle again and match the speed of the incoming wave, which started to carry her forward when she did so.
Mrs. Otterton caught the wave with sheer luck on her side, as she did not expect after so long for her to easily do that without any error. Once ready, she started to stand up swiftly and ride the wave the way she always did when practiced back in those days, one foot paw near the front of the board and the other places further back. She swerved as she tried to keep her balance, nearly unable to keep it and almost falling into the water for a brief moment, and the wave carried her safely towards the shore as she rode it just ahead of its breaking part.
From where he had moved the beach towel to be a bit closer to the views of the water, Emmitt smiled at his wife as she returned back up to where he was. "Impressive," he said to himself after seeing her surf. He had known that she had taken surfing up as a hobby once when she had mentioned it when they had first met each other, but this honestly the first time he had seen her out in the water doing just that in some time.
Eva and Finn both completely surprised. Their mom out on the water and surfing that wave was the coolest thing they had seen, and she looked just like the pros they had seen in shows and read about to them.
"Hang eight, Mom!" remarked Finn as she rejoined them, making the shaka sign the surfers used with a paw.
"Surf's up, dudes," she replied jokingly as she made the same sign back at her family. "These waves here are perfect."
"I didn't know you could surf, Mom," Eva added.
Mrs. Otterton laid the board down to her side and sat back down on the nearby beach towel with her family. "I used to years and years ago," she replied. "This was the first time I've went out and rode a wave in forever."
"That was awesome," responded Finn. "Can you do any of those tricks like they do in my game? You know, where they do that super fast loop-de-loop and stand upside down on the board while they're in the air?"
His mom laughed before shaking her head. The video game that the pup was talking about was one that he played as a surfer and got to do a bunch of different maneuvers that not even professional surfers could do since they weren't possible to pull off in real life. Even if anybody tried to do any of that sort of thing in real life, it most certainly would have ended in a wipeout. "I don't think I could do any of those," she answered with a smile.
"And I'm not sure I'm talented enough to even get the basics down," Emmitt chimed in. "Mom probably makes it look a whole lot easier than it is. I'd probably fall into the water a bunch before I could keep my balance."
Mrs. Otterton chuckled at him before looking back at her two children. "Hey, I've got an idea," she told them. "Why don't I teach you guys how to boogie board? Sound like fun?"
The eyes of the two pups started to glow at their mom's great idea. "Really?" they both said in unison, more than eager to learn.
"It's just like surfing but instead of standing up, you lie down on a board that's smaller than the ones you surf with," their mother explained to them. "Let's head up to that stand up where we parked and get you guys some nice boogie boards to practice with."
The sunlit waves continuously pulsed shoreward as the two pups made their way over to the ocean water again a bit closer. While they weren't going to be as far out as their mom just was a moment ago when she rode that wave earlier, the smaller curls forming in the water were perfect for the young ones to start learning to boogie board against.
Eva and Finn continued to walk along with their mother right beside them, their colorful boards that they had gotten from the vendor selling them to tourists and the like under their arms. After seeing a quick demonstration from their mother on her surfboard of how to properly boogie board, both of them couldn't wait to get started and see if they could master the art of it.
"All right," Mrs. Otterton said to the two smiling pups. "The first thing you want to do is wait for a perfect wave to come rolling in. I think one will be coming up from further out."
"And after that, then what?" asked an eager Finn.
"When you see it coming up," continued Mrs. Otterton, "the next thing to do is paddle toward the wave like Mom showed you and it'll do the work of carrying back to the beach."
"Here's some waves!" Eva said after a short amount of time went by, pointing to what was rolling forward
The waves she saw were much smaller ones that weren't as powerful as the kind those with much more practice rode, but they were just right for beginners at the whole boogie boarding thing.
Finn was first to give it a try for the first time.
His mother started to step back into the water as she watched him closely from not too far away. Just as his mother had taught him and his sister when they saw her do it, he quickly got in the right place so he could try and ride the wave that was coming in back up to the sand again. For the first moment of it, he did pretty well until he tried to steer himself. When he was just nearing the beach, he almost slid off and splashed in the water but ultimately did pretty good at staying on the board while he rode the small wave entirely.
Mrs. Otterton was still proud at how well her son had done on their first try. Otters were naturally great swimmers, and that along with the fact that the pups were good and fast learners explained it. "Good job, Finn."
"I'll go next!" said Eva enthusiastically before running past her mom and lying on her board, paddling up not too far away from her just as she saw another wave come up.
She was ahead of the wave so it would help her catch it easily, just as her mom told her. She pointed the nose of her board toward the beach and started to paddle along, scooping the ocean water with her paws to go faster.
It was shortly afterwards that she found herself near what she had learned was called the belly of the little wave, which did its job of carrying closer to the beach just like her mom said it would. She tried leaning to the left and to the right while keeping herself balanced, gripping onto the sides of the board to make sure she didn't slide off into the water. As she got close to the spot where the water rhythmically splashed against the shoreline, she started to ride up on her board on one foot paw and one knee instead of just lying down like she was.
"Yay, Eva!" applauded her brother Finn enthusiastically, clapping his little paws at how well she had done.
"That was great, honey," Mrs. Otterton said to her as she smiled proudly.
"Well, I learned from the best surfer in the world," replied Eva as she ran back up to her mom with her pink boogie board trailing behind her against the sand.
"With enough practice, both of you will be able to ride some waves someday just like your mom did," her mother responded. "Now then, how about we take a break and have what I packed us for lunch?"
"Sounds great!" remarked the two pups gladly.
Mrs. Otterton chuckled and smiled back at them. "Let's head back to our spot then."
Lunchtime consisted of the sandwiches Olivia had made for the family with some of the veggies and bread she had picked up from the local store near where they were staying. The four of them happily started dig into them, nodding their heads and smiling once again at how good they were.
"Mom, you make some of the best sandwiches," Finn complimented after he had taken the last bite of his.
It was as everyone was finishing the rest of their sandwiches that the single cry of a solitarily flying seagull came from nearby. The family looked around to see the white bird with a yellow beak waddling right up to the blanket in which they were seated upon, its head cocked as it looked in their direction.
"Here," said Emmitt to the bird as he threw down a small piece of the wheat bread his sandwich was made with. "Enjoy."
The seagull carefully took a few steps forward up to what he had thrown there and placed it in its beak, flying away with it back into the bright blue sky and away from them.
"Even the birds think they're good," remarked Emmitt with a chuckle.
"Good thing there was only one of them," his wife responded. "I don't think we'd have enough to feed a whole flock of those."
Emmitt shrugged his shoulders. "I think they're after some of the fish those mammals are catching instead."
"As long as they're not like those ones in that show the pups and I watched, it's all good," Olivia replied.
"Mine, mine, mine," said Emmitt in an imitation of the seagulls that could talk from what she had mentioned.
"That's not funny," returned Olivia as she shook her head.
It was then that Emmitt turned his attention over to the other side of the beach that they had been walking down a bit earlier, and he started to see two familiar mammals walking down with beach chairs and an umbrella. When he saw the fox in Pawaiian clothing and a gray rabbit in a sun hat and blue patterned swimsuit. "Hey, is that Nick and Judy?" he asked himself out loud.
Overhearing him, his wife turned her head and looked at who he had seen, and the pair of fox and rabbit seemed to be making their way over to where they were too. "Yeah, that is," she answered in surprise. It really was a small world.
"Well," Emmitt said as Nick and Judy walked up to where they were with their supplies in tow, "I didn't expect to see you here."
"Aloha," greeted Nick as he nodded his head to the otter and his family.
"We figured we'd try to beat all that bad weather and take a little vacation," Judy explained to him. "So, how's Pawaii so far?"
"It's amazing," chimed in Olivia. "The kids absolutely love it and the weather's so much better than what we had blow in. If we can, we'll definitely be coming back sometime."
"We'll be taking the pups tomorrow to see where all the pineapples grow," Emmitt said, "and tonight we'll be trying out this nice restaurant we heard about in one of the brochures. Right, Olivia?"
"That's right."
"Where they make those really nice pu pu platters further up on the island?" Nick inquired. "That's actually where we were going to eat later tonight."
Emmitt chuckled back at the fox. "Isn't that something," he remarked at the coincidence.
"Well, we'll let you guys get back to enjoying the beaches here," Judy said to the Ottertons before her and her fox walked back down to find a spot to sit down and enjoy the sunshine. "See you later."
"Bye!" the family called back before they continued on with the rest of the great afternoon in sunny Pawaii.
Author's Note: With all of the cold weather that's been coming in right now, I figured this would be a nice chapter to write to get us thinking about the warm weather that'll be coming once wintertime is finally over. I don't know about you, but I'd sure like to be enjoying some warm sunshine on the beach like how I wrote for this story.
I honestly felt like writing about the Ottertons for some reason but with a brief cameo from Nick and Judy. I remember writing a short little story about them awhile back and thought I would write about them again, and so I had some fun with this one. Hope you guys enjoyed it and that it out a smile on your face.
'Til next time! :)