The Furry Face

Introduction

Santa Cruz, California has been a place of mystery, fun, excitement and of soul cleansing for me in my youth. These feelings continue into my adult life. I wanted to share and document many of these events. My close friends and family may have heard, and been part of, many of these stories.

Let's begin with the Furry Face.

Picture two young boys ages 11-12 at the beach. The names of these two young boys are Joey and Donald, sound familiar. 

"Dude! Lets hit the waves, man", says Donald. "Righteous!", says Joey. The two boys dive under the surf and quickly get wet. "Dude!, the water is #@$# cold.", says Donald. "Dude!, you'll get used to it in a minute. Are you ready to body surf?", says Joey. "Man!, Joey, are you sure there is no sea creatures in the water?" says Donald. "Dude, don't worry about it, there is no, like, sharks, or anything around here. I've been coming to this beach since I was little". Reminder, the boys are only 11-12 years old.

"Dude, check out that righteous wave" says Joey. Donald says, "Dude lets get on top of that wave and ride it in!" "OOOOOOHHHHH!" shouted the boys as they paddled to get on top of the wave. The boys rode the wave about half way into the beach when they both flipped and tumbled into and under the wave. The boys dragged themselves up to the surface of the water where they were hit again by another wave. Wipe Out!!

"Dude, that was totally awesome, that wave almost pulled my bathing suit, off" says Donald. "Mine too" replied Joey. But, what the boys didn't notice was that they were not alone in the surf. A local inhabitant, a sea lion, was playing in the surf where the boys were wiping out. The sea lion, who we will call Fonze, was diving in and out of the waves. "OORHH!, OORHH!, OORHH!" said Fonze, but the boys couldn't here Fonze over the sound of the ocean surf.

"Dude, here comes a Whopper" says Donald. Whopper being the boy's made up term for a BIG wave. "Dude, if we swim fast we can catch the wave on top" replied Joey. "Lets go for it!" says Donald. The boys swim out to catch the wave. Meanwhile Fonze is also swimming out to the same wave, not seeing how close he is to the beach and to the boys.

"Dude, try to stay on top of the wave this time and it will take us all the way in to the beach!" shouted Joey. "Dude, don't worry, I'm a pro, don't you remember those waves in Long Island with our cousins, Eric and Fabian?" (Another Story) says Donald. The boys begin paddling to stay on top of the wave. Fonze dives under the wave. Joey manages to stay on top and ride the wave into the beach, barely, while holding is bathing suit on with one hand. Donald, after about, 4 seconds, wipes out and goes under the wave. Donald recovers, and goes up towards the surface. Fonze also goes up towards the surface. As both Fonze and Donald break the surface of the water they find themselves in utter shock, staring each other in the face.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" shouted Donald. "OOOOORRRHH!" shouted Fonze. Then they both took off swimming in the opposite directions from each other.

Donald comes running out of the surf towards Joey and says, "Dude!, Dude!, Dude!, a furry face!, a furry face!, a furry face!. In the water, there was this furry face!. Dude!, this &%#@@# furry face!.

Meanwhile, Fonze stairs back at the beach at the boys and turns towards the open sea where he can swim in peace. Joey spots him in the surf before he dives and says, "Duude, that is only a sea lion. Didn't I tell you, they are always hanging around here".

The End

Written By Joey Pérez
Copyright © 2000-2003, Joey and Maria Pérez, All Rights Reserved.
 

Surfs Up...................We'll be on Safari............

This Story was last updated April 3, 2001