Short/Memoir: Delicious Water.

I was edging my way across the muddy hillside, trapped between razor wire and the stench of sewage. Rocks littered the face of the hill , with small patches of under-grown grass infesting the already ugly slope's side. We weren't in the best of situations right now, and it was partly our fault. On the way back to our house, dissension had occurred in our car. Evert and I had decided to get out at Embassy Gardens to prove that we could make it back home faster by foot.

On a normal occasion, we could. Except the guy who lived near the shortcuts border had decided to put up a huge, ten foot fence topped with razor wire and with iron bars under it so we couldn't rip the whole damn thing up then clamber under it. It was a bizarre sight, on our neighbourhoods side, there was a pathetic, miniature fence that I could step over. Yet on the shortcut side it looked like we were trying to cross the Mexican border. If I had paid more attention to the people around here, I would have known the guy who built this fence was lionized here in Cardenas. As a complete asshole, that is.

"Well... Shit."

We now had a choice, double back and take the long, two hour walk around taking the main roads. Or take the adventurous, stupid way. Through a swamp like jungle , snakes, sewage, drains and spiky plants. To be fair to ourselves, the stupid way was only a twenty minute trip at maximum. It seemed like the obvious choice at the time. But of course when I had razor wire a few yards to my right, and a sewage line on the other time, I didn't feel all too smart.

The water at Crap Creek(formerly Crab Creek) is a very special kind of sludge. It seems that anything that falls into it just assimilates into the drink. Now I'm meticulously moving my way across the slope, finding places to put my feet and grabbing onto the hillside. My brother is at the very start, being a pussy(or being smart?) waiting to see if it's safe. My foot hits a loose rock, and now I'm sliding down on my leg, swearing. I try to grab onto the grass, but it just rips out of the soil. "Gah! F*CK!" I tried jumping to the over side of the shallow water(this was pure sewage, not the creek anymore) but my feet can't get a grip.

Splash.
Now I'm over the ankle in sewage water, damn.

Short: The Spin of A Bullet.

SThe old man's wrinkled finger curled around the trigger of the gun, the metal was damp from the humidity and the man's sweat. For what seemed like the thousandth time, his cold, gray eyes slightly touched the lens of his scope. He had done this countless times, he had done it in Siberia in his training camp, decades ago. He had sniped in countless Russian conflicts, he had done the same in Europe, Australia, Asia. Even in South America he had taken shots at the opposers of his nation's beliefs. Yet this job, which he would carry out in the United States, was his greatest task yet.

The Motherland wanted one thing for the United States, they wanted chaos and anarchy. They wanted the president, John F. Kennedy dead. The old man knew this could be his last shot, he, Vasily Zaytsev, legendary soviet sniper and WWII veteran, was getting too old for this. He knew that at this old age the police could easily aprehend him if they found out who he was.

Yet even he could not imagine what was going to happen next. He had his gun trained on Kennedy, he was waiting for exactly the right moment, when suddently a shot echoed through the streets. Good. Now some other conspiracy could be blamed for his death and not the Russian goverment. He took a deep breath, and then he pulled the trigget

Day 20: What we Drown In.

We left the surfboards back on shore, we felt like bodyboarding. I paddle up a wave and make it over as it crashes down on my friend, who didnt make it over fast enough. By the time he surfaces the next wave is already looming down on top of us. I padddle, and along with my brother, catch it.

We have a very, very stupid game we play occasionally. Wave wars. If two or more people catch a wave on bodyboards you do the only logical competitive thing left to do. You try to get the other person off the wave in the most violent manner you possibly can. I turn towards my brother and my brother starts turning towards me. I'm on the right side, so I'm going to have to punch and/or grab him with my left. Disadvantage D:, I try to get him in a headlock then flip his board. What happens next can only be described as absouloutly retarded. I grab his head and try to slam him off the board. After a few seconds of struggle I succeed, but when he goes down sideways he pushes the board, making it fly up straight in my face.

Foam tastes like shit.

We swim out to catch the next set of waves. About ten minutes and a few waves later, I manage to screw up. A pretty big wave is looming over me and I'm paddaling to catch it, I look back and notice that I'm a bit too far forward. Oh shit. As I go up the wave I try to turn out of it, but it's too late. The wave crashes right on me.
Now, if you've never had a wave crash on you, count yourself lucky. I was immediatly sent rolling through the water, getting pushed along and span by the wave for the first few seconds. Then the wave fully broke, and I was being dragged along by my board about two feet underwater. I pulled at the rope and finally managed to stop myself. I was nearly out of air after I had had some knocked out of me when I hit a rock when I was in the roll so I went up to the sky as fast as I could. Water really is a different world from the air. You can feel the difference almost before you break the surface.