His skin allergy gone and beautiful girl won over.

Submitted into Contest #92 in response to: Write about a character who thinks they have a sun allergy.... view prompt

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Adventure Coming of Age Creative Nonfiction

Jed had beautiful thick red curly hair and fair skin, surfing the waves kayaking and having fun on the beach was something he loved to do. But it was a real chore having to wear a full length body suit, and cover his face, hands and feet with 50 plus sunblock as his sensitive skin could not cope with the sun for very long. Turning red and forming blisters were a common trait when he was younger, and when he didn’t know how to cover his skin so well.

While out surfing some awesome waves he spotted a gorgeous woman with long red hair surfing the waves in her bikini and not seeming to worry about her fair skin burning in the hot midday sun. After awhile he got the chance to talk to her while waiting for a wave, and he was surprised to hear she too used to burn and blister in the sun.

Her name was Annie and she explained how she had found that by drinking the gel from her plant called aloe vera in her smoothy daily, and rubbing gel onto her skin instead of sunblock, she was able to swim, sunbath and let her body adsorb the vitamins D it needed on a daily basis without all the sunburn and blisters.

After surfing with her for awhile she invited him back to her place where she showed him how easy it was to grow aloe vera in pots on her balcony. The smoothie tasted awesome as she wiped the creamy coating off his top lip, her touch tingled through his whole body and he knew this would be a new and wondrous friendship.

He noticed she had tubes of aloe vera gel and he asked her where she got them. She explained that most groceries stores sell the gel in the sunblock aisle but it is more recommended for after sun use. She explained she had found it worked really well instead of sunscreen and was 99.9% natural which was far better for the skin than all the chemicals found in many of the sunblocks.

Annie and Jed then drove to the local plant store where she helped him buy 6 aloe vera Barbadensis plants. Then to the grocery store where she helped him buy the right all natural gel that he too could use. As the day was coming to an end they bought some food and headed for the lookout where they both sat closely together eating their take away and watching the surf roll gently onto the beach, knowing tomorrow would be a great day for them both to share together. He promised to meet her on the beach the next day so they could surf together.

The next day was another beautiful day as Jed made his smoothie he checked the surf app on his phone, but the beach was flat, so instead of his board Jed brought his kayak to the beach. As he was setting his gear down on the sand Annie arrived and they covered each other in gel giggling and chatting as they did so, and soon they were gliding over the water in the kayak watching the birds as they were always the first signs for fish life under the water.

Seeing the odd fish jumping out of the water was fun and then they saw a few turtles looking for kelp to eat, and watched them as they majestically swam around. Putting more gel on and paddling along was fun, knowing they were not getting burnt to a crisp by doing so.

While heading back towards the beach a pod of dolphins swam on by, at first startling them as they only saw the fins above the water, but soon they were diving in and out of the water around them and both Jed and Annie laughed and watched them. Then Annie jumped into the water and swam around with them grabbing one on the fin as it swan by towing her along in the water was so much fun. Jed laughed and jumped in too wanting the excitement of swimming with the pod of dolphins too, but soon the dolphins left and they both got back into the kayak, it was sad to see them leave enjoying the water and showing off their diving skills as they did.

All too soon they landed onto the beach and towelled each other off. It had been such an awesome experience with the dolphins, and the turtles. Both Annie and Jed loved it so much you could see it in their faces with their eyes sparkling as they relived the experience as they sat on the sand to have their lunch, both kept looking out to sea just in case they would spot more sea creatures again.

Jed noticed that with just his shorts on and a regular coating of the aloe vera gel he was not getting burnt but he felt that his body had had enough sun for today and so he put his tee shirt on and covered his skin with more gel. Annie too put on her clothes and covered herself with more gel, and they packed up their belongings and headed toward their cars.

Jed was really enjoying Annie’s company and asked if she would like to follow him to his place and he could show her where he had put the aloe vera plants and he could make her a smoothie this time. After their smoothie they both slowly undressed and kissed each other under a luke warm shower as the water rippled down and around them, as their kisses sent shivers up their bodies and washed over them like the tide.

After the shower they both covered each other in aloe vera gel and were soon dressed and happy to be spending more time with each other. Watching the tv and the heading over to the lookout to dine with the seagulls and see what else might be in the sea. Not right now but in the cooler months they will see the whales as they travel to their birthing spots and then back to the Antarctic to feed once the calves are big enough to travel. Enjoying the ocean and it’s amazing wild life is something they will enjoy together for many more years to come.

May 01, 2021 00:49

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1 comment

Ryan LmColli
17:03 May 10, 2021

Join this: https://www.guilded.gg/i/0k80xDmk Oh no... ouch. I definitely teared up by the end. I really can’t say enough good things about this story. I’m a Chinese-American young woman - who has a fondness for Mandarin scattered throughout English - so it especially hit hard for me. You captured so many bits of the culture incredibly well: 哥哥, 妈妈, offering food as a comfort tactic. All of it feels so loyal and true to real life. I absolutely love the tie-ins to other Chinese characters too. It’s a funny language. (I created...

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