Jimmy felt alive like never before. His life had suddenly added a new dimension to his experience. He felt joy through every cell. He felt like his life out here was going to be okay.

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“That was totally awesome! Let’s go again!”

“Come on,” Matt said, “Let’s go eat. I know a great surf and turf place not far from here with killer lobster as cheap as McDonald’s.”

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The next instant was pure chaos as the wave threw him from his board and plunged him into the churning whitewater. His lungs began to burn from the lack of oxygen, as he waited for the washing machine effect to slow enough to swim for the surface.

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Jimmy felt the joy start in his soul and burst through him like an exploding star: “Whoo-hoo!” He stretched his arms across the inside of the barrel and stood up in triumph: “Whoo … mhgurf!”

He had stuck his head straight through the top of the wave.

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Time went from slo-mo to a standstill to timeless. In front of him were the glittering diamonds of the day’s last bit of sun reflecting off the water. The water all around him sounded like a freight train—yet, there was a cacophony of music brought forth inside the vibrations like a rejoicing.

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Jimmy gathered every cell of courage he had and paddled into the oncoming wave.

He jumped to his feet, rode down the steep face of the wave, and turned into the pocket, crouching purposefully as a thick lip of water covered the sky and enclosed him inside the barrel.

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Matt took one of the first of the big set waves and was instantly engulfed in a fast-moving barrel. Jimmy turned to prepare for the ride, primal fear screaming at his body to stop.

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“Here it comes, man!” Matt shouted.

“I see it, I see it!” Each of them paddled furiously to escape being caught on the inside of the break.

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“Come on, I need some backup. I’ve got to at least try to catch one. Isn’t that what we came for?”

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“Forget it, man. I’m wiped. You know you are going to get out there and the tide will change them anyway.”

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