Annies' father had an interest in playing golf. As a young man he caddied at the public golf course only three miles from his home. He learned a lot about playing golf and through the years became a very good golfer.
Now he felt it was Annies' turn to learn the game. She was 8 years old and eager to learn. The two of them always had fun practicing in the back yard and putting in the living room until Mom yelled they were ruining the carpet. Mom was a good golfer herself but she said she never practiced on the carpet.
Dad decided it was time for her to take golf lessons at the driving range. He took her to his country club and asked the Pro there to give her lessons. Annie was very excited. She was actually going to get lessons from a real Pro!
The first lesson was tiring. He showed her how to swing and made her
do it over and over again until he felt it was right.
Then he had her hit the ball. The first two balls didn't go far but after that she began to hit them farther and farther. The pro was impressed. He told her she had a natural swing. She felt so proud of herself. She turned around to look at her Dad and saw he was smiling at her. That made her feel very good.
After dinner that night, her Dad said that maybe they could go to the country club on Sunday and the three of them could play 9 holes. Annie was ecstatic. She was going to play with her Mom and Dad.
On Sunday morning when Annie woke up she ran to the window to see if it was a good day. There were clouds in the sky but she wasn't worried. It looked like a good enough day.
She ran into the kitchen and saw that her parents were having
breakfast. Her Mom told her she had to get ready in one hour because they had to be at the club at that time. She ate her breakfast, showered, got dressed and ended up waiting for them.
They all piled into the car and Annie was surprised to see that there was a new set of clubs in the back seat, just her size! Her Mom and Dad smiled at her look of surprise and told her they were her clubs, but only on loan. If she still enjoyed the
game and played well, those clubs would be hers.
Upon their arrival at the club, the same instant dad turned off the engine, Annie was out of the car like a flash, but standing very close to it's side as she had been taught. With no other cars driving near by she begans to head toward the club house, with mom just in back of her. They went into the club, changed into their golf shoes and went over to their carts. Annie rode with her Mom and Dad rode alone.
When they got to the first tee, Dad took his first shot and it landed all the way down the fairway. "Good shot!" yelled Mom. Annie agreed. Then Mom hit off the tee and that shot went far down the fairway.. "Good shot!" yelled both Annie and her Dad.
Now Annie stepped up to address the ball, "Hello there Mr. Ball, this time you go a long way too, OK?" Annie said to the ball. Mom and Dad both laughed at her being silly and watched.
Annie felt very confident that she would play well. After all, her pro said she hit well. When they got on the course, she watched her Dad and Mom hit the ball. Their balls really went far! Now it was her turn. She stood on the tee, gave a practice swing, and swung at the ball. She was amazed to see that the ball didn't go far, it just rolled on the fairway. She looked
at her parents in surprise. They looked at her sympathetically.
Annie put another ball on the tee and tried again. The same thing happened again. "What am I doing wrong?" she asked. Her Dad told her that she was trying too hard. "Don't hit the ball as though you were using a baseball bat." He said. "Swing nice and easy." She tried that and it was better. The ball didn't go far but it went nicely. Her parents told her that it takes lots
of practice to get the right swing.Annie lost some of her confidence, but she still enjoyed the game.
Annie took a practice swing, almost hitting the ball, measured the shot again, and swung. This time she hit it just right. That ball went sailing into the air, only it was hooking to the left, into the trees and bushes it went.
Half angry at herself Annie started to throw the wood to the ground but caught herself and just hung onto it with both hands, but her face
showed how mad she was at at herself. Off she went looking for the ball, Mom and Dad headed that way also. Annie found the ball and hit it onto the fairway. It was a good shot and she felt better about it.
Annie and her parents were having fun on the golf course. They were on the 9th hole when Annie spotted a golf cart driving towards them. There was a man and a boy in the cart. The man stopped and asked them if they had seen a golf club lying around anywhere. It belonged to the boy and they just
realized that it was missing. Annie and her mother said they didn't see any clubs at all. The boy looked very sad. Annie felt sorry for him and said she if she found it she would return it to the clubhouse. They thanked her and left.
While her parents were putting on the green, Annie spotted something shiny in the rough grass. She was delighted when she saw it was a club. It must belong to the boy! She picked it up and showed it to her parents. They decided to go back to the clubhouse and see if they could find the man and
the boy.
They reached the clubhouse just in time to see them walking to their car. "Wait!" yelled Annie, "we found your club!" The boy ran over to them, all smiles, and said "Yes, this is my club. Thank you so much. My parents just bought me a set of clubs and I felt terrible when I realized I lost one of them. This is so nice of you!" Annie just stood there and smiled. They all smiled.
Annies' Mom and Dad started talking to the boys' parents. It seemed they knew each other from the golf club. While the adults were talking, Annie and the boy stood there looking at each other and smiling. Finally the boy said, "My name is Chad, what's yours?" She told him her name was Annie.
"Do you like fishing?" asked Chad. "I've never gone fishing, so I don't know if I like it, but I like the ocean. I swim in it all the time when my folks take me there." Annie answered.
Chad said he loved to swim also. "Hey," he said excitedly, "My Mom and Dad are taking me to the beach this afternoon, could you join us?" Annie liked the idea and said she would ask
her parents. They all agreed that it was a good idea, but first they'd have to go home to get their bathing suits. They said they would all meet at the beach in a little while.
Time passed slowly for Annie with the trip back home for the suits and then a return trip near the golf course to the beach. Her thoughts of how much she enjoyed that short visit with Chad, meeting him and all. Thoughts of how bad she played left her mind and were replaced with ideas of the fun she and Chad were going to have. Great to find a boy around her age, and they
would go swimming, on top of that she might learn to fish sometime, yes! playing golf is a good thing to do.
Once again Annie could not wait for the car to stop at the beach parking area before she is ready to fly out of the door. She could see that Chad and his folks had already arrived and were at a great spot away from the crowd of beach visitors, nice that they could somewhat be alone.
"Hi! Annie", Chad yelled as he came running accross the sand, "Hi!" Annie almost screamed in her excitement. "Slow down ,"her mom warned Annie, "You'll trip and fall down", the words were hardly out of mom's mouth when Annie tripped over her own heel, went sailing,, doing a belly flop on the hot sand.
She was so embarrassed as she lay there all spread out, arms, legs all spread out. Chad's laughter rang in her ears, not a sound of laughing at her, more like a friendly laugh. Annie's embarrassment was turning into a belly laugh of her own as she envisioned the silly way it happened and her just laying there like a beached whale, by now both parents, Chad and Annie were laughing their heads off at the incident.
It was fun to laugh this way. It seemed to relax everyone because they all started talking at once. After awhile, Chad and Annie started walking along the shore, telling each other about their friends, school and golf.
Chad grew quiet and seemed to be far away. They continued walking without talking until Annie said, "What's the matter Chad, you seem awfully quiet." Chad didn't say anything for a moment, then he said, "I want to tell you something, but I don't know if you'll beleive me." I'll believe you" said Annie, "why shouldn't I?" "Well," said Chad "I haven't even told my
parents, 'cause I knew they wouldn't believe me, why should you?" "Because I'm your friend." Annie said simply. Chad looked at her and said "Okay. I'll tell you but you have to promise not to tell a living soul - nobody!" "I promise." Annie said excitedly.
They sat down on the sand and Chad began telling her about the fish he met in the ocean. He told her how he was able to breathe, and how they could read each others mind, and how a fish named Randolfo showed him a whole city in the ocean. He told her about the octopus and how the octopus returned him to the fishing boat.
Annie listened in amazement and when Chad told herhow he wasn't sure if it was a dream or not, she stared at him, wide eyed.
"You never saw them again?" she asked. Chad said no, even though he went looking for them time and time again. That's what made him think it was a dream.
Annie sat quietly for awhile, deep in thought. Finally she said, "maybe you were looking in the wrosng place. Maybe Randolfo is swimming in a different part of the ocean now. He may be afraid that he'll get caught again." "You may be right!" shouted Chad. "Why didn't I think of that. Why he may be swimming here, near the beach." They jumped up and ran towards the water. Annie said, "Wait, we can't go swimming until we ask our parents." "Right you are." said Chad.
They ran back and asked their parents who said they could go swimming as long as they stay near the shore.
That was the agreement,"Stay near the shore", yelled Annie's dad as she and Chad scurried away to greet the waves. "We were so smart to wear our bathing suits under our clothes", said Chad, "right you are", replied Annie, how much alike they were already becoming.
As they ran Chad reached out to hold Annie's hand so that they could run together. Annie at first just slapped Chad's hand, noticing a small frown cross Chad's forhead, more like an apology. Chad assured her, " I just wanted to make sure you didn't fall again Annie". With a relaxed expression on her face she replied " Oh! sorry, it's just that no boy has ever held my hand before." They both smiled at each other and then laughed as they reached for each others' hands, fingers interlocked, they
continued their run towards the shore.
Just as their feet become covered by incoming waves both stopped, looked at each other, giggling like the school children they were, hand in hand they continued their run into the surf. Now waist high they both dived head first into the waves.
They were both about 20 feet from shore, splashing each other, diving under the water tugging at each other's ankles, teasing. As they were facing each other, splashing away Chad glanced over Annie's shoulder. There were Randolfo's two sisters, Sharma and Manelea. Their face was just above water, looking around, spotting Chad at the same time.
All three of
them stared at each other in shock, then Chad yelled excitedly, "Sharma! Manelea! I found you! How wonderful!" The sisters were laughing and talking at the same time. "Randolfo was always looking for you, wait til we tell him!" laughed Sharma, They noticed Annie who was looking at them in amazement. "Annie", cried Chad, "these are Randolfos' sisters, the ones I was telling you about". Annie just nodded her head, she was too stunned to
speak.
"Where is Randolfo?" Asked Chad. "We'll take you to him, if you want", said Manelea. "Just hold onto our arms." Chad looked at Annie; "do you want to go? It will be a great adventure, trust me, all we have to do is hold onto their arms and we'll be abe to breathe under water". Annie looked at Chad, undecided, when she saw the eagerness in his eyes, she said, "okay, I trust you Chad, let's go!"
They held onto the sisters' arms and down into the ocean they went. Chad was eager to see the sights again , and to see Randolfo. Annie was a bit scared but felt that there was no trouble breathing after all. She started to look around and with Chad pointing out all the sights began to be excited.
It was beautiful here, thought Annie, She never saw such coral
and such colorful flowers. Even the fish looked different. So many of them! She was awed by what she was seeing. Chad kept talking and pointing out all the different flora and fauna.
Suddenly he shouted, "Randolfo!". A fish was swimming toward them, very fast and with a great big smile on his face. "Chad!" yelled Randolfo. "They found you, oh I'm so glad." As he
reached them, Chad let go of Sharma's arm and grabbed Randolfo. He hugged him and the two of them were laughing as Randolfo spun Chad around and around. The others watched them, smiling all the while.
Randolfo finally stopped and said " Come on, let's go down and have some fun!". Before Chad and Annie knew what was happening, they were being pulled down into the ocean.
Chad held onto Randolfo and the five of them swam into much deeper water beginning a new adventure for each of them. Just as before, Chad was surprised at the many colors below the surface of the water. Daylight flickering off bodies of a large variety of sea life. Dnacing between each droplet of water, the suns' rays were playing visual music again in his minds' eye.
Annie was also surprised at the variety of colors, unseen by her before. Never had she dove this deep, as now the daylight was being left behind as deeper, ever deeper they swam. A little bit of fear was creeping into Annies' mind as she looked around. "It's a good thing we are all close together", she thought, in an attempt to be calm, as darkness began to be ever present.
Just as Annie was feeling concerned about the darkness, about three feet before her appeared a pair of sea horses. The five stopped to watch the sea horses. It looked like they were dancing. They asked Randolfo why the sea horses were doing this. Randolfo explained, " the father sea horse carries the eggs before the babies are born. While he is carrying the eggs,
he and the mother sea horse greet each other daily with what appears to be a ritual dance, showing their love for each other in this way. They are true to each other til death takes one. Then, it it is a lonely life until another mate is found".
"That is so cool!", cried Annie. "Now there's a family it would be nice to be part of." Chad nodded, agreeing with Annie. "Come on you two, we have a lot more to show you", said Randolfo, pulling them along. Darkness has now become a friend of both Annie and Chad. Neither feel any concern about it at all.
As they approach the very bottom of the Ocean an eerie light begins to shine as if it is trying to break free of captivity. Closer the group swims toward the light. It is overtaking the darkness and lighting the whole area now. What began as a low murmer of a noise has become louder as they approached. The sound is very loud as they arrive at what appears to be a
split in the bottom of the ocean's floor.
Randolfo turned toward Chad and Annie, and explained, "this is a Continental drift, where the sea-floor is spreading apart, like a small volcano with hot lava flowing out". They can now see right through several creatures as they swim by. Like they
are translucent, being viewed like an ex-ray. Once again Chad and Annie are astounded by the beauty that surrounded them. Creatures perhaps that have never been seen by mankind before.
This was all too much to take in at one time. They couldn't speak.
Suddenly, Annie felt very dizzy. She let go of Manalea's arm. She started drifting away from them. The others were staring at the lava and didn't realize what was happening. Annie couldn't breathe and was beginning to pass out. Suddenly a long tentacle wrapped around her waist and pulled her upward. She felt as though her lungs were going to burst. She closed her eyes and let herself be pulled upward.
When she opened her eyes she was on the beach again. A lifeguard was holding her and asking her if she was okay. Annie looked at him in bewilderment. She looked around for Chad and saw him standing nearby. He looked at her pleading, with his eyes, not to say anything. She nodded and told the lifeguard she felt okay. She was just dizzy. Chad sat next to her and assured the lifeguard that he would take her to her parents. The life guard nodded and went away.
Annie looked at Chad and asked him what happened. He told her that when they realized what happened to her they were frantic and went looking for her. They saw Mashy the octipus who helped her and he told them what he did. He also told them that he warned them before that they should not stay too long in the ocean, espcially to go so far down.
Annie slowly, with the help of Chad, stood up. With Chad's arm around her waist the two of them started toward their parents who had already put everything back into their cars and were ready to leave.
As the group approached their cars Chad said, "Thanks so much for spending the day with me, I had a great time". No longer as shy, Annie agreed, "It really was a fantatic day and thank you for introducing me to your friends". Her dad's ears open wide, for he had not seen anyone else on the beach. "Friends?" he asked. A bit surprised at the question and how to answer it, Annie
stuttered, "Ah, ah, yea". Chad interrupted, "Yea, some of my friends were swimming off shore, out there", Pointing toward the horizon. Her father nodded, accepting his explanation.
Relieved, Chad turned toward his parents and their car, and walked toward them, He turned to look at Annie, with a sad face, wishing the day would not end. He ran back putting his arms around Annie's shoulders,she wrapped her arms around Chad's waist. The two of them gave each other one long hug, a brief glance at each other, separated, and headed back to their folks and the waiting cars.
As the two cars leave the parking area, each going separate ways, Chad and Annie follow each other's glance as they become specks on the highway of life. Each of them knowing that they will, somehow, see each other again. Each of them wondering if they will ever see their ocean friends again.
