Seven Waves

Lucy sped down the street with tears flowing, sending her mascara down her cheeks. A new song comes on the radio that instantly elicits her revulsion. It is her and her now ex-boyfriend's song and feels like a knife to her heart. She shuts it off and then cuts the left at the next intersection, completely ignoring the red light. Luckily there is no cross traffic, the entire town is already at the New Years' Eve festival on the beach; which also happened to be her destination. The beach, that is, not the festival. She had something she needed to do and she meant to do it alone. In the last twenty-four hours, she'd lost her boyfriend, her job, and her dog. She was determined to meet her News Years resolution if it killed her.

This year, her resolution was to “jump seven waves,” a ritual from Brazil that she'd read about when she was sifting through her roommate's eclectic collection of magazines. According to the ritual, she could increase her luck for next year by jumping over seven waves. She also gets to make one wish for each wave. Originally, the idea was just meant to be an entertaining endeavor, a bit of excitement to share with her boyfriend and her friends on New Year's Eve, but its importance had grown exponentially with the recent series of events. Lucy couldn't remember a time in her life that she needed luck more than she did now.

There was only one beach in her small town and she would have to share it with the majority of its occupants, something she wasn't prepared to do in her current state. Luckily, the beach spread across two miles and she had a special spot that she was confident would remain secluded. Glancing at the clock, Lucy sees there is just under half an hour to go. Midnight is fast approaching but the beach isn't far now.

With her eyes off the road, she didn't notice a deer run in front of her car. She slams on the brakes as soon as she sees the animal in her path but the car doesn't stop in time. She hits the deer and screams at the top of her lungs in shock. The deer bounces off her car and pauses for a moment before it stumbles and shakes its head. It then appears to glare at Lucy before taking off into the small patch of woods that lay between the road and the beach. Her windshield was shattered in the impact and she carefully brushes the tiny pieces from her clothes before stepping out of her car. Upon inspection, she finds that the damage to her car is extensive. It won't be going anywhere without a tow tonight. She searches through broken pieces of her windshield and the spilled contents of her purse for her cell phone. She finds it and checks the time. She has fifteen minutes left.

Lucy decides to leave her car sitting in the road and heads for the beach on foot. Any other day, the accident would be her main priority, but tonight she cared only about her New Year's resolution and if she wanted to make it by midnight, she was going to have to move faster. Though Lucy was not ordinarily a runner, she became one that night, not slowing her pace until she could see her spot: a small stretch of beach on the far east side that had several sea stacks standing out in the water. She'd grown up swimming laps to and from those sea stacks. She could do it in her sleep and was not afraid to attempt it in the dark. When she finally steps upon the sand, she starts to undress, stripping down to her swimsuit. Balking at the cold air as it hits her bare skin, she takes a couple of timid steps towards the water when she suddenly hears voices.

She panics at the sound and scans the area for a place to hide, spotting some brush about a yard away. It won't provide her with much coverage but is her only option. She hastily grabs her clothes and makes for the brush. She ducks down and does her best to hide, thankful for the cover of night. To her horror, the couple pauses directly in front of her, not more than five feet away. She holds her breath, afraid to make a sound until they continue on and disappear down the shore. She abandons her hiding spot only after she is sure the couple has gone. When she checks her phone again, she sees that there are less than five minutes to midnight. She stashes her phone in her clothes and hurries towards the edge of the water.

She takes her first steps into the ocean and quickly finds that the water is freezing cold. She knew it would be, after all, it was the dead of winter, but somehow she is completely unprepared for the frigid temperature and her body and mind immediately stage a revolt. Fighting her natural instincts, she forces herself to tread further into the cold water, continuing until it reached her shoulders. Her body grows stiff and achy from the cold as small waves start to roll in, splashing her face and neck with freezing droplets of water. She knows it's time to start jumping.

Lucy's seven wishes had long been prepped and ready to go. She'd found them at the same time as the ritual, in an article discussing the antonyms for each of the seven deadly sins. Seven opposites for seven waves, she reasoned it fit perfectly to cover her bases and provide her with the best chance for a fruitful year. She takes a breath to prepare herself, then, as she jumps over the next wave, Lucy screams out her first wish to the universe, “HAPPINESS!” She lands and saltwater splashes across her face, some goes right into her open mouth. She spits and coughs but the next wave is coming fast, so she readies herself and jumps, calling out, “LOVE!”

She continues to jump each wave as they roll in, one after the other, calling out the rest of her wishes at the top of her lungs. Passion was the third, generosity the fourth, followed by restraint and temperance. Mere moments after Lucy releases her final wish into the night sky, the skyline lights up with fireworks from the other side of the beach, signaling midnight. She made it. Shaking from the cold, she runs to the shore and collapses to the sandy beach. Amid the cheering that carries over the water, a triumphant smile sets upon her face as she lays alone in the sand. Cheers to a better year.