This is something I wrote on the fly about the Tiki outlet shop in Braunton in response to a post on the Magicseaweed surf forum. It's based on actual events, although fantasised mildly.
I'm even considering trying to condense it into a surf orientated book for young children. Although, knowing me, thats pretty unlikely to happen.
It was written quite a while ago but on stumbling upon it again recently I thought it would be a worthy addition to this blog of mine. Hope you enjoy :)
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Once apon a time there was a rubbish surfer surfing a board that was too small for him. Realising his problem he searched the land long and hard, high and low, for that magical board that would propel him along the glassy ocean pulses.
Hearing of a shop far far away, he travelled to the shire of Braunton where he hoped to find his soul board. After long discussions with many of the local wizards of the sea, he was pointed in the direction of a petrol station and a roundabout. Behind which he was told he would find the Grand Master Tiki wizard and his collection of used affordable surfboards.
The road was long, the map unclear, and at times it seemed like our intrepid surfer would never find the wizard and the magical board he sought. However, he stayed true to his goal. And by the dawn of the third day as the winds from the east blew the sun over the horizon, there it was. The Great Castle of Tiki.
Tired and hungry, our hero stopped for a tin of tuna and a bread roll, picking up a spare one as an offering to the Great Wizard.
Once inside the castle, our hero was made to feel welcome and at home. Attention was paid to his every need by the grommet workers, and boards of all shapes and sizes were presented to him. However, our hero had spent all his family's savings on the trip west and could not afford the Step 7s and other shiny boards on offer.
At that moment the Grand Master Tiki appeared from behind the staff room curtains. Our hero was quick to seize his chance and thrust his recently prepared tuna sandwich into the hands of the master. Having caught his attention, the master and our hero talked tuna and surf for the next few hours. The advice handed down in that short time stayed with our hero and he became a better surfer for it.
As their conversation drew on they talked of volume, rail shape and surfing style to name a few. An idea was beginning to formulate in our hero's head as to what his magical board would eventually look like. Then as quickly as he appeared the Grand Master vanished, and in an instant was back again. This time he had brought with him a rack of surfboards. In that moment our hero knew what he was looking at. It was the rack of used affordable surfboards, all his life he thought it was just a bed time story. But now he knew it was real, and that he was very close to fulfilling his dream of owning a surfboard more suited to his specific needs at a price more suited to his specific wage packet.
The Grand Master clicked his fingers one of the boards lept from the rack and under our hero's arm. The master could see that both the board and our hero were as one, like they were meant to be together, like long lost lovers. The only problem, the master explained, was that the board was dying. One of its fins had been wounded in battle and on return from the seas it had turned to drink and drugs and let itself go. Over time it had accrued many holes and forgotten about the sea and it's healing properties. The great master explained that our hero must search out the mythical Solarez plant, found only in the borrows to the west over the haunted hills. Only this plant could heal the ills of the once great magical board and restore it to its former proud glory.
Luckily, our hero had purchased some leaf of solarez from the local naysayer of Croyde. Saving him the dangerous trip into the burrows. The great master was very happy at this news and, with the power of tuna in him, set about waving his magic sanding paper to fix the board.
Less than an hour later the magical board was back to its former glory and ready to do battle in the heavy seas of saunton. Our hero was very happy and offered the great master his last 100 gold coins. The master happily accepted these explaining that the global credit crunch had taken its toll and this would go a long way to purchasing more tins of tuna. Our hero was happy and couldn't wait to try his new board and the powers it held. So with a wave of his hand the master summoned the seas and transported our hero to the shores edge. The next two hours were the most magical our hero had ever had, including the time his mum brought home a baby kitten for him to play with.
Over the next two years both our hero and his board were very happy together. It seemed nothing could separate them,....until our hero laid his eyes on the Rusty Piranha.....
