Reunion

 Leilani tossed and turned, restless and eager for the sun to rise. She accepted the few hours of sleep she received and rose from her bed. She walked out on her lanai; lighter hues of blue danced on the horizon. She stretched her arms high above her head greeting the sun as it peaked over Mount Haleakala. It was a beautiful morning on the island of Maui, not just for the breathtaking views and the perfect weather. Today, Leilani was meeting up with her best friend for the first time in over a year.

  They were both born and raised on the island and had only left once to visit the neighboring island of Oahu for their senior trip. It pulsed with energy and the influence from the mainland was much more prominent there. As they flew over the island of Oahu, the tall buildings and freeways loomed over the white sand beaches. The concrete jungle working its way across the island. It was ugly to Leilani

 “I wonder if this is what LA looks like!” Miki looked over at her friend, smiling ear to ear. Miki fell in love with the vast potential of the city life. Her eyes shined and Leilani knew in that moment she was going to lose her to the Mainland.

 After that trip, Miki decided to take a year off and see what the mainland had to offer. She had family that owned a small Polynesian restaurant in San Francisco. She worked for them and once she saved up some money; she bought a car and just drove. Leilani heard this from Miki’s family. She had dropped all communication with everyone but her mom. That’s how she was, she was a free spirit that lived in the present. Leilani, on the other hand, was very methodical and enjoyed planning every detail of her future. She was very family oriented and never even considered a life that wasn’t located on Maui. She hadn’t a reason to leave.

 As she loaded up her truck with necessities for their overnight trip, she smiled thinking about talking story with her favorite person. She couldn’t wait to hear about all of her adventures on the mainland. What a difference a year can make. She went through her list of supplies one more time and once she was satisfied with her work, she called Miki.

 “Good morning, sunshine,” she teased her friend, knowing that Miki wasn’t fond of early mornings.

 “Do you have to be so loud? I get it, I’m up, I’m up.” A groggy voice whispered from the other end,” I’ll be ready in 20 minutes.”

  The south side of the island had a much different landscape than the rest. It had hills covered in dry, golden grass that blows around making what looks like waves across the hillside. Lava rock peeps out of the grass until it takes over the landscape where Haleakala spit its fire over the land two hundred years ago. The lava flowed towards the sea, creating steep cliffs that fall into the vast open ocean. Other than kiawe trees and a few goats, they would be the only living things in the area. About 5 or 6 miles past the parking area was an abandoned fish house. A house built long ago for fishermen to come and relax in the shade and clean their catch. It was falling apart and no longer had running water. There was still a floating platform someone had built off an old Koa tree that had an amazing view of sunset. They would be camping there tonight. What made this trip even more daring was the kayak excursion to the location. Leilani had an old, but trustworthy, tandem kayak they would be using. She also had a couple of dry bags filled with camping supplies that were fastened to floaters that would follow behind them, tied to their small sea vessel. Leaving early in the morning was paramount for the success of their journey. Once the Tradewinds pick up they risk getting taken out to sea. This wasn’t news to them; they had been coming out here for years together.

 “I hope you are still in shape after your year long party,” Leilani teased her friend as she loaded up the kayak.

 “Shootz, have you seen the hills in San Francisco? They are crazy steep and I had to bike everywhere, so don’t you worry about me, Lei.” She retaliated, smiling. She was so happy to have this time with her bestie. As exciting as the past year had been, she missed home terribly.

 As they launched out into the clear cobalt blue water, they enjoyed the beauty the ocean had to offer. They seen large colorful islands of coral that many tropical fish called home. They smiled at the honu gliding slowly through the water, flippers almost waving to them from under the water. A pod of spinner dolphins raced each other, jumping and diving effortlessly. As the sea became deeper so did their conversation. They talked about their families and caught up on all the gossip Miki had missed along away. Leilani shared her frustrations with college. Miki shared things about the mainland she thought her friend would find amusing. People wear shoes in their houses (yuck!), and they called slippahs, flip-flops. How the ocean is cold over there and full of seaweed. She told Leilani about the food and the parties. The girls got lost in conversation as they paddled towards the fish house.

 “My Auntie took us camping in the Santa Cruz mountains.There were trees that ten people couldn’t reach their arms around called Redwoo-“her sentence was cut short by a strange sound she heard in the water. Like air being released. I was a familiar sound, but she couldn’t quite place it. She felt the blood rush from her face as she remembered what the sound is caused by. As she looked at her friend to tell her what she heard, her face was pale. The water grew darker around them and for a moment everything was still. Without warning, what looked like a dark grey cliffside emerged from that water, lifting the kayak into the air with tremendous force. It never even crossed her mind till this moment.

 It was whale season.

Humpback whales migrate in Hawaiian waters arriving in winter and leaving in spring. They have their young at this time and males will occasionally fight for the attention of the females. They do this by hurling their 66,000-pound body out of the water, displaying their strength and dominance.

Unfortunately, the two best friends found themselves in the middle of this terrifying act.

 Leilani was launched out of the kayak and into the oncoming path of the enormous beast. Miki fell backwards, sliding down the massive body. The skin on her arms and legs getting shredded from the barnacles that clung tightly to the whale’s lengthy back. She took a deep breath as she hit the water. She swam hard away from the giant tail that would be following the rest of the whale shortly. She swam with everything she had. Her lungs were burning, heart beating out of her chest. She swam till she felt like she was going to pass out. As her shock began to where off; she began to panic. Looking in every direction, screaming her friends name. She didn’t see Leilani anywhere. All she saw was cliffside and open ocean.

 She swam towards the lava rock walls that lined the shoreline. She took her time, saving her energy. The cliff was steep, and the porous rocks were filled with spiny sea urchins and opihi that would shred you to pieces if one of the unforgiving waves tossed you against it. Miki’s thoughts were racing, the image of her friend flying through the air burned in her brain. She thought of the childhood they shared together. Memories flash in her head like polaroid pictures. Learning to surf together, BBQ’s on the beach. Staying up all night talking on the phone. Tears welled up in her eyes as she wondered if she would ever see her friend again.

The Tradewinds started picking up white caps started forming on the surface of the ocean. The change in the wind whipped a familiar sound in her direction. Please, let this be real she repeated in her mind as she closed her eyes, mustered what strength she had left, and swam towards the sound. A few minutes had gone by and she started to worry that she had been mistaken. Then, clear as day, she heard it again.

 “My loneliness is killing me (and I) I must confess I still believe (still believe) When I'm not with you I lose my mind…Give me a sign…Hit me baby one more time..”

It was one of the girl’s favorite songs by the pop super star, Britney Spears. They spend many a night belting out her songs into their hairbrushes. She wanted to be nostalgic, so Leilani had packed their old boombox that contained Miss Spears debut album. After being thrown out of the kayak, Leilani was struck in the head by one of the paddles. Thankfully, one of the dry bags they had been pulling on floaters was close by to where she landed. Leilani, struggling to keep her head up and stay awake, had opened the dry bag to keep herself occupied. She found the boombox. She kept it playing hoping her friend would hear it and find her. As Miki came into view Leilani smiled and thanked God her friend was alive. They would be ok. By the time the song,” Email My Heart” was fading out, Miki was able to pull her friend up onto the jagged shoreline. As they lay in the sun breathing heavily, they turned and looked at each other.

“Who is going to believe that a whale sunk our kayak and Brittany Spears saved our life??” Leilani asked. The girls starred at each other and after a moment burst into laughter. They laughed till tears streamed down their face. Miki grabbed the hand of her best friend and squeezed it tight.