Wildest Dreams

M.K. laid there feeling the dampness soak through her clothes, not recalling how she ended up horizontal after just being upright, racing to beat the early crowd to the beach. She contemplated just lying there the rest of the day, maybe even taking a nap, because the water had cooled her skin while the steamy, morning sun shone down on her face. ‘Quite relaxing,’ she thought, and surely better than the chaos there was to be at the surf shop today since the sun was out for the first time in a week.

“Mila! Mila!” someone began to shout. “Are you okay? Mila!”

M.K., annoyed by the voice being disrespectful to the nap she was clearly trying to take, decided to open her eyes to check out who was creating so much commotion. M.K.’s right eye came open first and then the left, blinking, trying to reorient herself to the silhouette standing over her.

“MILA! Can you hear me?”

This time, very irritated, sitting straight up, M.K. had full intentions of setting this guy straight. As soon as she rose the world began to spin and her head started to throb. Before any words could come out, everything went dark and she headed back towards the ground. After a few moments M.K. heard the voice again,

“Don’t worry, I got you.”

Taking a few seconds to process, M.K. realized she was now in the arms of this person who had once been shouting, and that he was in fact talking to her.

Mila was M.K.’s first name. No one had called her Mila since she was little. It had always been M.K. for Mila Kingston, that’s just what she went by. A lot easier to say, write, and obviously cooler. She wondered how this guy could possibly know her name.

Becoming fully aware her head was throbbing and she was being cradled by a complete stranger, she opened her eyes and sat up out of his arms.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

M.K. responded, “Yep, all good! Just trying to take a nap before work!”

The guy chuckled and said, “Mila, right?”

M.K. nodded with a confused look on her face.

Handing M.K. a little black book he said, “This book was lying beside you and it says Mila Kingston so I was guessing that was you. Anyways, I’m Hux, nice to meet you!”

Looking at the book she was even more confused. She’d never seen this book in her life, nor had she ever personalized anything with her full name on it. Trying to not let on that she was terribly puzzled, slightly in pain, and extremely embarrassed having had to have tripped and fallen to end up in this position, she replied,

“Oh yeah, thank you.”taking the book from his hands while he helped her stand up. “Nice to meet you, but I’ve got to go or I’m going to be late!”

M.K. arrived at the tiny little surf shop, Breaking Waves, as the clock turned 7:30. It was her home away from home, where she spent every summer working, learning, and soaking in all of the beach splendor. She loved this place not only because it’s the only surf shop to occupy the beach at Vantage Bay, but it’s where locals and only the occasional lost tourists visit. It’s peaceful, just M.K.’s style. The shop had been there for 33 years owned by the one and only Hobbie Horton, ex pro surfer turned full time beach dweller and longtime family friend.

Hobbie, not surprised in the slightest by M.K. rolling in exactly when her shift was supposed to begin, said “Howzit, M.K.? Someone’s looking a little rough.”

She sighed and headed to the back room to gather herself after this morning’s mayhem. She took out the little black book, examining it. It was covered in a soft leather-like covering, secured by an elastic band, and in the bottom right hand corner was her name engraved in gold lettering “Mila Kingston.” Hesitant to see what might be inside, she slowly began to pull back the elastic band. All of a sudden, she heard Hobbie’s deep belly laugh, then another voice. The voice sounded slightly familiar, but she couldn’t quite distinguish it. Quickly putting the book back in her bag, she peered through the crack in the door to see what was going on. It was that guy again! Hux. She could tell he was not from around here; he had a slight twang in his voice. M.K. backed away from the door, hoping he would leave before she had to go out there.

“M.K., get out here! This kid is worried about your noggin!” Hobbie hollered jokingly. Annoyed, she walked out the door and Hobbie broke down into a fit of laughter.

“Can I help you?” M.K said.

Hux, able to tell she was irritated, replied, “I just wanted to make sure you were okay and meet the other local business owners. I own the new coffee shop in town. Hope to see you around!”

“Wait, I’m sorry, it’s been a long morning. Welcome to town! I was wondering though, did you happen to see how I ended up on the ground?” M.K. asked.

“No, I didn’t. I’m sorry. I was unpacking some things and I looked out the front window and you were laid out on the ground, so I rushed out there because you weren’t moving.”

“Hmm.” replied M.K. “So you know that book you handed me with my name on it? I have no idea where that came from. I think it fell out of the sky, hitting me, sending me crashing to the ground because I didn’t notice anything laying there before I went down.”

“Yikes, I’ve got an idea. Swing by the coffee shop later and we can check our security cameras to see what might have happened!”

Not too cracked up about the idea of having to rewatch her morning blunder, M.K agreed, waved goodbye to Hux, then made her way to the back of the shop to see Hobbie with a sad look on his face. M.K. sat down, concerned because he never displayed any emotion other than happiness.

Hobbie began speaking slowly, “Well mate, I’ve felt this day brewing for a while now and it’s come. I’m going to have to close down the shop. Our equipment is outdated, the store needs too many repairs, and I’m getting old. I just can’t fix everything up like I used to.”

Speechless, the only thing M.K could muster up to say was, “But…”

Hobbie interrupted her hesitation, “I know you’re gonna be all out of sorts about this but it’s what’s gotta happen. I just don’t have the money to keep it going. I’ve got a realtor coming by today to see if it would even be worth putting up for sale.”

M.K., having every memory of this place flash before her eyes, said, “Hobbie, this is your home though. Where are you going to go?”

“My little bro lives in San Diego; he’s been trying to get me out there for years, so I’ll just go crash with him.”

M.K., extremely upset by this news, went over and just hugged Hobbie, not knowing what to say.

Hobbie, in his relaxed surfer dude way, said, “All good things come to an end! Come in tomorrow and you can help me pack things up!”

M.K., still shocked and saddened by the news, grabbed her bag and left the shop.

She started to walk away from the beach towards the coffee shop, but stopped at the picnic table she and Hobbie watched sunsets at. She pulled the black book out of her bag and opened it. On the front page it read, “To assist with your wildest dreams” and in the pocket on the inside cover was an extremely stuffed envelope. She took it out and inside was cash. There had to be like a million hundred-dollar bills in there. She looked around to see if anyone was watching or if someone was going to jump out and tell her she was being punk’d, but nothing happened. It was just her, the black book, and $20,000 in cash. When M.K. came to her senses, she closed the envelope, slammed the book shut, and raced to the coffee shop to meet up with Hux.

Out of breath, she entered the shop. Hux was standing there cleaning coffee mugs.

“I wasn’t expecting you until later, what’s up?” the surprised Hux said.

“We have to watch those cameras, NOW.” said M.K.

Alarmed, Hux put the mug down and they walked back into the office. He hopped on his computer, did some scrolling, and found M.K. walking in front of the shop. Next thing you knew something black fell from above and whacked her right on the head and she dropped like a fly.

“I knew that thing hit me, I’m not that clumsy! We’ve got to figure out where it came from!” M.K. exclaimed.

Pulling out the book and sitting it on the table, she made Hux promise not to tell anyone what she was about to show him. He eagerly agreed and she opened the book revealing the words written on the ivory page, “To assist with your wildest dreams” and then showed him the envelope of cash. Hux was astonished.

“What in the world? Where could this have come from?” He questioned. We’ve got to get to the top of this roof to see if there’s anything up there!”

M.K agreed and they both headed outside to climb the raggedy stairs at the back of the building.

When they got to the roof, they searched high and low for any sign of where the book could have come from. Then, all of a sudden, over by the edge of the roof, M.K. found a teal envelope. It read, “Gifts from Above” Inside was a note addressed to her:

“Greetings Mila Kingston,

If you are reading this then we hope that means you have received your “Gift from Above!” We are excited to inform you that you are the winner of the writing contest, “Wildest Dreams.” We handpicked a special book for you, had it engraved with your name, and placed money inside to assist you in achieving your wildest dreams. This book was then released from somewhere above you by one of our talented helpers here at “Gifts from Above,” hopefully to have landed perfectly in your lap, or somewhere near you. We take our name very literally here at “Gifts from Above.” Your submission about wanting to help your friend’s surf shop and letting it be a staple for generations to come was incredibly moving and we hope this cash will help! Now go chase that wild dream!

With love,

Gifts from Above

Disclaimer: If you were harmed in the releasing of this book from above, you are entitled to even more compensation. We are extremely sorry and will evaluate the accuracy of our helpers more closely. Please call 123-456-7890 for further assistance.”

M.K, completely astonished by what she just read, began jumping up and down for joy! She never won anything! She showed Hux the letter and they took off full speed ahead towards the beach.

Barging into Breaking Waves, Hobbie and two realtors were sitting at the front table.

“Hobbie, Hobbie, Hobbie! We can save the shop! You don’t have to sell it anymore!” shouted M.K.

Hobbie, partially freaked out by her intensity, followed her to the back to discuss what this was all about. M.K. showed him the letter, the book, and all the cash. Hobbie, with tears in his eyes, gave M.K the biggest hug she had ever received. He walked back to the front and told the relators the place was no longer for sale and he was opening back up for business! The realtors left and Hobbie sat down at the table.

“This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me, M.K. I want to thank you by making you co-owner. We are going to run this thing together and when I’m gone it’s all yours so the legacy will continue. Long live our wildest dreams.” said Hobbie Horton.