The Joyride

The Joyride

Rain clouds began to tear themselves away from the jagged peaks of the

Koolau range and rays broke through the clouds and beat down on the muddy

water of Pearl Bay. Bobby glanced toward them, but his mind was elsewhere.

He paced back and forth along the isolated stretch of the narrow beach. Now

and then he would kick at loose pebbles along the muddy grey shoreline. For

the moment, Bobby was still in his private world, consisting of little more

than a strip of mud flat along one small section of the bay. But his world

was about to be invaded. Chris, his best friend since kindergarten, would

be showing up any minute. And Bobby knew that before this afternoon ended,

their two lives, so entwined these many years, would forever be changed.

Bobby clutched a smooth black stone in his fingers. He leaned into the

light breeze, preparing to skip it across the harbour waters, but stopped

abruptly, remembering that the gods did not like land removed from the

island. As the stone slipped from his fingers, his eyes followed the

ripples that glided on and off the grey beach where he stood, then rose

almost by habit to gaze once more at the Arizona Memorial stretching white

and graceful, remembering painfully that this would be the last time that

he would ever walk along this beautiful beach.

As his eyes watched the waves, and how they caressed the muddy shoreline,

he began to think of the future. His thoughts were quickly disrupted.

“Hey bud, how's it going? What was so important that you had to talk to me

about?” Chris asked.

“It's to hard. I can't go on with it.”

“What? What can't you go on with?” Chris demanded urgently.

“It's just, that, that, this will be our last weekend together”.

“Wait a minute. Slow down, your not making any sense. None at all. What do

you mean that this will be our last weekend together? We have the whole

entire summer planned out. Fishing next weekend, canoeing to Ford Island

next month, our bike.....”

“NO STOP!!! You don't understand. My dad got transferred. We're moving.”

“But why now. School doesn't start for another two months, and colleges

start even later than that!” Chris replied.

“I know, it sucks. I can't do anything about it. I've tried everything.

I've even asked my parents if it would be okay to move in with my

grandparents for the rest of the summer. But it's no use. They say I have

to get used to the town, meet new friends,and get a job.