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To Believe To Skim is a sequel of Just a Skim of Omara Bay in Issue #103. You
might want to check out Just a Skim of Omara Bay if you want to fully understand
the story. Feel free just to continue reading without viewing the other story,
but you've been warned.
"Today will be hard," Kislingbury, a spotted Scorchio,
warned me. We had dropped off our towels and bags under the shade of a tree,
on one of the white sandy beaches of Omara Bay. We held our skimboards with
one paw and padded through the sand towards the shore. I heard the negative
whispers of many of the beach-goers as I walked by; I was the only Halloween
Kougra on the island. I think I would have gotten used to the whispers of others
by now, but I never have. "I won't lie. It's going to be hard."
I was very nervous, today was going to be the
first full day of skimboarding practice. Kislingbury wanted to get me ready
for a flatland contest that was in three weeks. I was going to enter in the
beginner's division. Kislingbury had explained that if I was going to be in
a division of beginners didn't mean I didn't have to perform like one. I had
my first ride on a skimboard yesterday, it was the most glorious feeling I'd
ever felt. I never felt more comfortable doing anything in all my life.
Kislingbury and I would have practiced all day,
but we were interrupted by Queenie's injury. After we made sure my sister was
alright, we continued to practice. I tried the 180 a couple of times and glissaded
down the shore till sunset. Kislingbury had taught me how to use my wings to
gain speed, but not fly away with my skimboard. The technique Kislingbury taught
me yesterday was great to catch speed, but in a contest scenario isn't allowed.
He had explained not every pet has wings so it is considered an unfair advantage.
Winged pets can only use their wings in a contest, if there is a special division
for them. The contest in three weeks didn't have a special division so I had
to learn a new technique for speed acceleration that all the other pets use.
Kislingbury and I kicked our way through the
sand; we got closer and closer to the tiny waves crashing on the shore. The
sound of the waves was normally calming to my large ears but it made me more
and more nervous. I was nervous about being taught the new technique; my paws
began to shake slightly. My nerves were getting the best of me. I tried to calm
myself so I whispered to myself, "You did this yesterday. You can do it again.
You'll be okay."
"Don't worry," Kislingbury assured me, he must
have sensed my nerves. "I wouldn't have offered to teach you if I didn't think
you could handle it. You did great yesterday, even though today will be different.
You will do fine."
I smiled at Kislingbury; he was one of the best
and only friends. He was determined to teach me how to skimboard to my full
potential, he had faith that I could do anything. I just hoped that I would
live up to the faith that he bestowed upon me. I wished I had the same faith
in myself that Kislingbury had in me. I felt the eyes of the pets on the beach
on me; I knew they all wanted me to fail. I was different and the different
aren't allowed to succeed in their world.
We arrived at a spot about fifty feet away from
where we had practiced at yesterday. Even in the shallow water, it seemed to
sparkle. The bottom of our paws sank into the sand and Kislingbury shifted the
blue skimboard with painted flames in his golden paws. He held the skimboard
with both paws so it laid flat in midair. He carefully held the skimboard near
his stomach.
"Yesterday, you were moving about the speed
of a Slorg. Today, I'm going to teach you so you can gain more speed. You are
going to jet across the water; it creates a rush like you never imagined. If
you thought yesterday was fun, just wait till today." I watched what Kislingbury
did with his scaled paws and the skimboard. I mimicked his movements and I hoped
I was doing it right. "That's perfect," Kislingbury complimented. "We are going
to run, while we hold our skimboard out in front of us, like we are holding
it now. You have to make sure to keep the board level the whole time. We'll
run to the rocks and back, ready?"
"Okay," I replied. As Kislingbury began to run
down the beach, I chased after him. It was harder than I thought to keep my
white skimboard level in front of me, while I ran. Kislingbury and I arrived
at the rocks and turned around with caution. If we weren't careful, we could
whack each other with our skimboards. Kislingbury and I sprinted back to the
spot, where we had begun the run. I was panting slightly but I was proud that
I was able to keep the skimboard in the same position the whole time. Kislingbury
didn't even release a single pant, my face turned bright red. I was horrified
that Kislingbury had seen me out of shape, but he didn't seem to mind.
"Good job. I'm impressed, most pets have such
a hard time holding the board steady while they run." The heat on my face slowly
began to disappear with the compliment. I always seem to get flustered when
I'm not exactly perfect.
"Thanks, Kislingbury."
"Last time we simply just pushed our boards and
jumped on to gain speed. That really doesn't give you much speed, does it? Good
enough to a couple 180s, but the tricks to wow the judges require tons of speed.
This is the technique you use to gain speed," Kislingbury explained. "You can
watch me first, and then you can try." He gripped the sides of the skimboard
and began to run down the shallow water. Kislingbury threw the board, it hit
the water and glided down the shore a couple inches with more speed than I ever
imagined. I never knew skimboards were capable of such speed. Kislingbury continued
to charge toward the board and jumped on his paws landed in a perfect position
on the skimboard. He stood sideways on the board with his knees slightly bent.
Kislingbury rocketed toward a pile of rocks; he dropped his paw into the sand
and turned around away from them, performing a flawless 180. He glided back
in my direction and Kislingbury gripped the sides of his blue board. He kicked
his back paws up in the air, with his body perfectly aligned. He balanced on
only his front paws. Kislingbury had performed a paw stand with such acrobatic
ease.
My jaw dropped at the speed and precision that
Kislingbury glided and performed his tricks. I felt pretty comfortable on a
skimboard, but I was sure I wasn't anywhere as good as he was. I knew I would
never be good enough to perform a paw stand with such ease that Kislingbury
did. Kislingbury spread his small wings wide and flipped off the board. He landed
perfectly in front of me. He stuck out a scaled paw to stop his skimboard and
scooped it up. "Well?" Kislingbury asked while my mouth still hung open.
"That was great," I exclaimed. I couldn't believe
how gifted a Scorchio could be as he sped down the shoreline. He reminded me
a lot of my sister Queenie, how skilled she could be on a surfboard. I always
felt I let her down when I couldn't surf as well as her, I was afraid I was
going to let Kislingbury down the same way. At the same time, I knew this wasn't
surfing but I was still insecure and the negative onlookers didn't help. "I
hope you don't expect me to do a paw stand."
"No, I don't," Kislingbury said. "Let's just
try and master the technique to gain speed first. Paw stands will come much
later, I just wanted to practice my moves for the contest, too. It is a flatland
so that means no waves, just a film of water. Besides, you aren't ready to ride
the waves yet." Kislingbury had decided to enter the same contest I was entered
in but not in my division. Kislingbury was certainly not a beginner. "Oke, are
you ready to try? I don't expect you to get this the first time. You have to
try not to get discouraged. Most pets will quit skimboarding just because they
can't get this technique down."
I nodded, as I fiddled with my skimboard. I didn't
want to be one of those pets that quit because they couldn't master the technique,
but I had a feeling I might be. I began to race down the shore and threw the
board as far as I could muster; I had thrown it too far. I sprinted down the
shore I struggled to catch it, but it was going too fast for me to jump on.
I chased after it, and finally caught up about a yard away from the rocks. A
yard wasn't really worth a ride, besides I didn't want to damage myself or my
skimboard. My ears picked up the sneers of the onlookers at my failed, first
attempt. My cheeks flamed red as I scooped up my skimboard before it could get
dinged on the rocks. I tried to ignore the sneers and concentrated on Kislingbury.
"Don't throw too hard, try not to think about
it. Just trust yourself," Kislingbury called down the shore. I picked up my
damp board and began to run down the beach again kicking up water and sand while
my paws tore through the terrain. I closed my eyes for a second to get full
concentration as I threw the board; I ran toward it and jumped on. I had landed
too far on the front of board. With too much weight on the front of the skimboard
caused it to drag in the sand, and I fell face first into the inch deep water.
I pulled my head above the water and gasped for air. My muscles sore from the
fall but I knew in a few minutes it would fade away. The sneers of the beach-goers
seemed to get louder at the spectacular face plant and my face turned redder
than a tomato Chia. I'm always the end of so many jokes being the only one painted
in a spooky manner on all of Mystery Island. Kislingbury trotted up to me and
pulled me up from the ground. Kislingbury picked up my skimboard and put it
in his other paw. Kislingbury shot the beach-goers a nasty glance. "Just ignore
them, it's not like any of them could skimboard if their life depended on it."
Kislingbury continued, "Everyone who skimboards has fallen before. It's hard
to land in the right position when you are running at top speed. You just have
to practice, it's no different from yesterday everything is just moving faster.
You can do this, if you believe you can do it."
I took my skimboard from Kislingbury and continued
to run, jump on, and fall. After hundreds of attempts of failing, I realized
my beloved skimboard was becoming my worst enemy. On my last attempt, I fell
off sideways almost conked my head on a nearby rock hidden in the sand. My large
ears picked up the giggles of the beach-goers, and my face burned. Kislingbury
had raced down the beachfront to make sure I was alright. He had grabbed my
skimboard and helped me to my dark paws.
"You can do it, Oke," a familiar voice echoed
from behind me. I spun around to my sister, Queenie with her best friend at
her side, each of them clutching their surfboards. "You can't give up."
"Oh give up," Rikku muttered. "Why don't you
try a real sport like surfing?" I wasn't very fond of Queenie's best friend.
Every time I encountered him he seemed arrogant and ignorant. Besides that Rikku
really cared about my sister and he had given me a skimboard. I guess underneath
the rough edges Rikku really did have a heart. Rikku did have a point, quitting
seemed like a very good idea at the moment.
"Excuse me, Rikku?" Kislingbury exploded. Kislingbury
hated how his brother always talked down to skimboarding. Rikku talked about
surfing as though it was only sport worth doing in Neopia, everything else always
seemed inferior. This kind of talk always pushed Kislingbury's buttons. Rikku
opened his mouth to respond but Queenie elbowed him hard in the ribs.
"Rikku and I are behind you a hundred percent,"
Queenie declared before turning her gaze to Rikku. She stared at him intensely
before she added, "Isn't that right Rikku?" Queenie continued to stare, if Rikku
dared to answer anything but yes he knew he would be in trouble. Queenie may
have been a Faerie Kougra, but she was just as tough as anyone else.
"Of course," Rikku muttered with a fake smile.
Rikku dropped his board on the water and dove onto it. He pressed his stomach
against the surfboard and began to paddle out to catch waves. As Rikku paddled
he called back, "Don't worry we'll be here for you in spirit, while we are out
catching the big waves. Let's go, Queenie."
"Do you want me to stay and watch?" Queenie
asked. "You always have been out here to watch my surf sessions, when I needed
you."
"It's okay," I replied, when Kislingbury returned
my skimboard to my paws. "You'll only make me nervous," I admitted.
"Alright," Queenie replied. "I won't be out
too far if you change your mind." Queenie waded out in the water and dropped
her surfboard. She stared at the nasty beach-goers a second before she continued,
"A lot of pets were counting on me to fail when I started surfing, and they
claimed that a Faerie would never rip. I proved them wrong, and you can prove
them wrong, too." Queenie dove on top her navy surfboard and paddled out to
catch up with Rikku.
"Just believe in yourself, Oke." Kislingbury
advised me. "You are too nervous and worrying about the tourists laughing at
you or that you'll fail. You need to believe you can do it. I can spend all
my time telling you that I believe in you but what it comes down to is you believing
in yourself." I listened carefully to Kislingbury's advice and it made sense.
I had spend the whole time worry about if I was doing it right, I might let
Kislingbury down, or the tourists might laugh at me that I forgot that the most
important part of skimboarding. The most important part is to listen and believe
in yourself. That's what made me perform so well yesterday. I closed my eyes
and whispered to myself,
"I can do this. I can do this." Suddenly, the
snickers and negative comments weren't clear in my eyes anymore. They began
to fade away all I could hear was my own heart and breaths. I began to race
down the beach, holding my board perfectly level. I let go and let my skimboard
slide a couple of inches before I jumped on. In midair I sucked in a massive
breath 'I can do this' echoed over and over inside my head. I landed on my board
perfectly, my paws in the right position and location. I raised my paws over
my head and let out a massive whoop.
"GO OKE!" Kislingbury called down the beach.
The wind whipped my face; I was going so fast and it felt so great. I didn't
think it could ever feel better than yesterday but I was proved wrong. I raced
down the shoreline, and reached my paw around as I glided back to Kislingbury
who cheered loudly for me. I grinned as I jumped off my board next to him, there
was no way I could erase the grin from my face. "You have learned the hardest
lesson that skimboarding and anything sport in Neopia has to teach, that believing
in yourself in the only way to succeed."
"Thanks Kislingbury," I said, with a massive
grin plastered on my face. No negative comment a beach-goer could say could
erase it. Besides, I wasn't listening anymore.
"You are the only one who can believe in yourself,
I didn't help you with that one." Kislingbury pointed out.
"I guess you're right," I replied.
"I'm always right."
"How about I believe that you're wrong?"
"I don't think it works like that."
"How about I believe I can beat you in a race
down the shoreline?"
"You wish," Kislingbury replied, but it was
too late I took off and zoomed down the beach on my skimboard. Kislingbury stood
in the sand alone, as he called, "No you don't, Oke!" He raced down the beach
to catch up with me. I laughed as I looked over my shoulder to see a Scorchio
getting closer and closer to me. The race was a perfect conclusion to the first
day of skimboarding practice, as long as I believed in myself I knew I could
do anything.
The End
Author's Note: I would like to thank Snowflake, without her the Times wouldn't
be possible. Thanks to everyone who offered their help and support. Thanks to
you for reading and please feel free to Neomail with suggestions, advice, comments,
opinions, etc. May the Borovan be with you!
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