All her life Ayane had wanted to be a Surfer. Through her childhood she had yearned for nothing more than soaring through the sky on the coveted Silverboards. She had wanted to be one of them - the Cadets, the chosen ones.
Very few from the city could be Surfers. Whether nature or nurture, something about the City made people unsuitable as Surfers. Many tried their luck - they'd walk into the Cadet academy hoping to be accepted by the wordless machines that scanned visitors and guarded the doors. Just as many would be rejected. The ones that made it past, into the belly of the academy, were folk who hailed from the country, the seaside. Never the city.
No one knew how to best the metal guardians. Those who made it into the Cadet academy only emerged months later, like caterpillar from cocoons, as fully fledged Surfers. Palest marble in skin, butt naked, eyes fully black and body completely hairless, they'd set foot on their Silverboards and soar into the sky. They never spoke again, not with anyone who was not their kind.
Ah, to be a Surfer...
Ayane often wondered what compelling force gave her such a desire. There was nothing prestigious about being a Surfer. They policed the city, they policed the world, but they spoke to none except fellow Surfers. No one had ever seen a Surfer eat, smile, or sleep. Some wondered if they even breathed.
It was a great sense of justice that pushed Ayane to desire, to expect, such a fate. She could feel it in her each day, swelling like a wave about to crest and break across a beach. She wanted to - had to - be a Surfer, no matter the cost.
Except that she was a city dweller, and she had as much chance to be a Surfer as a piece of broken glass did.
Inspired by: Sol
