Ness took him back and they drove all around looking for the Suburban, but his chance was gone. She was already headed east as he headed back out west. The whole journey was now just a ride in the desert.⁣


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“We’ve got to turn around!” Harry called to Ness.⁣

“What?! No! We have no time to turn around. We keep going.”⁣

“Ness, please, I’ve got to go back to her. I feel it’s meant to be.”⁣


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Ness pulled up next to him, and they turned west for home, longing for the cool, fresh breeze of the ocean. 𝘐’𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵. Outside of town, his gut turned as he realized that he had missed everything—the silly ice cream, the non-talking, the goodbye. On reflection, it all seemed like a sign to take a chance on love, which he clued into too late.⁣

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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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