Laughing Fate

by Roxy Emilia Means

  The waves appeared to be maybe fourteen feet, the storm making them wilder than was normal. If it was daylight, they wouldn’t appear to be half as scary, Puck thought. It was the darkness that lent the air of danger. Puck stood a while longer in indecision. She had to admit to herself that she was not experienced enough of a surfer to go out. With the stronger waves, the rip currents would be stronger as well, and she had never been very good at spotting them. It would be wise to go home. Puck sighed and kicked the sand. She was done with being a coward! All she’d done for far too long was mope around missing some nameless brute. Well not today! She would not go home in defeat.

  ****

  Potter stared at his phone through the small slits in his eyelids. It was 6 am, who could be calling him? He grumbled and reached for his phone, letting his eyes drift back shut. Last night he had spent with his buddies at Brad’s house. They had drunk a little too much, played football a little too hard, and had been just a little too loud for the neighborhood. The cops had been called to break up their party a little after midnight. Needless to say, Potter was not happy with whoever was calling him.

  “Hello?”

  “Potter?! Thank God! Puck is gone!”

  Potter sat up, adrenaline rushing through his body. “Why are you calling me? We broke up. What do you mean she’s gone?” All traces of sleep disappeared as he contemplated everything that could mean.

  “She’s gone! She left me a note saying she was going surfing at Trinidad, she left around four in the morning!”

  “Oh is that all?” Potter asked, relief chasing the fear away. Puck must have found herself another surf partner. He felt a stab of jealousy but did his best to ignore it. He had to get over her, she obviously had. The important thing was that Puck was safe. Early morning surfing was the best way to start a day- leave it to a non swimmer to make a big deal about nothing. Potter let his eyes drift shut and was about to end the call and go back to sleep when Perri’s shouting got his attention.

  “There’s been a tornado warning issued for the coast! I tried calling her cell phone, but she’s not answering!”

  “A tornado warning, we don’t get tornadoes. Are you sure you heard the weather report correctly?”

  “YES! Turn on your TV if you don’t believe me! Why aren’t you worried? She’s out there all by herself in a storm! GO SAVE HER!”

  Potter frowned and turned on his TV. “What do you mean by herself? Didn’t she take someone with her?”

  “NO, YOU IDIOT!”

  Potter felt his earlier alarm return full force. She was alone out there? And in the middle of the night? What was she thinking??? Potter felt the blood drain from his face when he saw the tornado warning flashing along the bottom of the page. She was alone out there in the middle of a storm? The surf report was for fifteen to eighteen foot waves, that was way too big for a beginner! Not to mention that sharks fed at night, that any psycho could come along and kill her, and that rip tides would be extra strong during the storm…She was in so much danger right now that it just boggled his mind.

  Potter could still hear Perri yelling at him over the phone, but he didn’t have time for that right now. He hung up the phone and ran out of his house at a break neck speed. He shot out of the driveway, his little Jetta speeding the entire way to Trinidad. How long could Puck continue to narrowly escape disaster? When he found her he was going to shake some sense into her. Then he was going to hug her to him and force her to accept his proposal. Then he was going to kill her.

  He spotted her jeep in the second parking lot he drove by. It was a popular beach with mild waves usually, a surf point that he himself had shown her. He pulled up next to her jeep and jumped out to look for her. He scanned the waves for her, but didn’t see anything but massively huge waves. The wind clawed at his clothes, an aggressive force that seemed to enjoy reeking havoc. The sun had turned the sky into a red and purple inferno. There was something wrong with the air. Potter stared up into the sky and noticed a sort of static electricity in the air. It all felt wrong. This was going to be a bad storm. Why would Puck come out in this kind of weather?

  Potter remembered that his friends had mentioned that Puck was acting strangely at the diner. What if she was in danger because of him? He should never have let her break up with him! He could have prevented this if only he had been able to convince her that she needed him!

  Potter ran up and down the beach searching for any signs of Puck. His frantic calls were whisked away by the wind, his voice grew hoarse with trying to outshout the roar of the sea. All those other ‘adventures’ of Puck’s were nothing compared to today. After he had thoroughly searched the beach, Potter ran back to his car to call Perri. She had already called the gang and was riding with Tony to meet Potter.

  “She’s not here.”

  “What?”

  “I think we need to call the coast guard,” Potter said, choking on the words. He felt warm tears fall down his cheeks and angrily swiped them away. He didn’t have time for this right now.

  “Don’t say that!”

  “Perri- this isn’t like the other times. It’s bad out here. I found her Jeep, but both her and her board is missing. The waves are too big for her…I ran up and down the beach but I couldn’t find her. We need help.”

  “Okay. I’ll call.” Perri’s voice sounded broken. Potter stared at the phone in his hands and prayed that everything would turn out okay. He wouldn’t give up on Puck. She had to be okay- he would have felt it if she was hurt, wouldn’t he? When the search party reached the beach they found Potter tirelessly searching the shore for Puck.

  ****

  Several long hours later there was still no signs of Puck. The coast guard was still out there searching the waves for a body, but so far they had not found anything. Potter had refused to leave the beach and had stayed to continue the search on dry land. Panic and despair and a small glimmer of hope had merged into a manic energy that rolled off of Potter. At this point there wasn’t much to do. It was pretty clear that Puck had gotten in the water. Perri verified that Puck had taken the board with her when she left. Unless someone had abducted her, then she was in the water still. A search of the Jeep had revealed her purse tucked underneath the seat, a change of clothes, and dry towels. Potter’s small glimmer of hope was vanishing with every second gone by.

  Potter sank down in the sand, his head in his arms. Tears mixed with the rain pouring down his face. He was soaked through and shivering with cold and yet he felt nothing. He lifted his head and stared out at sea. If his beloved ocean took Puck away from him he would never surf again. He didn’t think he could stand to live in this town without Puck by his side. He watched the coast guard ship bob in the water for a second and then closed his eyes. This was not how their story was supposed to end. He was supposed to grow old with Puck, to wake up next to her every day for the rest of his life. She was not supposed to be taken away from him. How he hated fate if this was what she had in store for him. He could not imagine a world where he would be okay without Puck.

  “You need to get out of the storm,” Steve said quietly.

  Brad put his hand on Potter’s shoulder and squeezed slightly. “Puck will be mad if you kill yourself searching for her. She’ll be rescued in no time and be yelling at you for being so stupid.”

  Dave frowned at Brad and silently shook his head in warning. “Look Potter, they have your cell number, if they find anything they’ll call you. It’s not doing any good to wait here for news.”

  Potter ignored all of them. He tried to imagine what Puck had been thinking. Why would she go out on such a bad day? She must have been thinking that it would be a grand adventure. Something didn’t make sense though. Puck knew how dangerous the sea could be. She might not be an experienced surfer, but she had been raised around the sea- she knew the hazards. Potter couldn’t believe that she’d try surfing waves as big as this. He thought again of how depressed she had been lately. He had been glad when he’d first heard how badly she w
as hurting. He was glad she hurt as bad as he did! But if this was the result of their break up then he would never forgive himself.

  He forced his eyes to focus on her jeep. If she didn’t get in the water then where would she go? He had already searched all the little caves in the side of the bluff. The caves and surrounding area had been searched again by the search party. It was as if she had vanished in thin air. It just didn’t make sense. Someone as dynamic as Puck couldn’t just disappear, could she?

  “Come on, Potter. It’s time to go.” Potter got up and followed his friends blindly. They were right; he was doing no good by just sitting on the shore waiting for news. He sat in the back of the car and stared blindly out the window. Where could Puck have gone? What had she been thinking?

  Ding. Potter looked up at the sound. Dave cursed and explained, “Car’s low on gas. I’m going to stop at the next gas station to fill it up.” Potter nodded absently and continued staring out the window. Would he be considered a widower if he hadn’t even been engaged to Puck? No, probably not.

  Dave pulled into the 76 station and stepped out to pump the gas. Potter couldn’t stand being in the car any longer and got out to walk around. He wondered how Perri was holding up. Once it was evident that Puck wasn’t to be found easily, Tony had taken Perri back to the house. The poor girl didn’t need this kind of stress- it couldn’t be good for the baby. Potter saw a little coffee shop and wandered over to it.

  He could use something to jolt his brain- grief was making his brain foggy, but if he could only think clearly maybe then he would be able to help in the search for Puck.

  “I’ll have the strongest drink you have.”

  “Sure thing. Some weather we’re havin’, huh? Couldn’t believe it when they announced a tornado warning. Glad it didn’t come to anything.”

  “Yeah,” Potter said wishing that the man would just be quiet. He didn’t want to make idle conversation while Puck was missing.

  “Don’t know why I didn’t shut down the shop. You are only the second customer I’ve had today and I’ve been open since 4 am! Too stubborn I guess.”

  “Mmmm,” Potter pointedly looked at the clock and back to the empty cup in the clerk’s hand.

  “Sorry if I talk too much- I’ll have your coffee up in just a second.”

  Potter just nodded and made noncommittal noises in response to the man’s conversation. Another time and Potter would have been more polite to the man. He seemed lonely and eager to talk to anyone. Potter closed his eyes and fought against the wave of pain that was threatening to engulf him. This wasn’t a day for idle chit chat.

  “Seems to be quite the commotion happening out on the beach. I sure hope it’s not that nice young girl that was in here earlier.”

  Potter jerked his head up and asked, “What did she look like?”

  The man scratched his head and said, “Well…she was real nice lookin’. Had a sweet little heart shaped face, was about this tall, and had light hair cut about shoulder length. She came in real early this morning.” He handed Potter his cup and smiled a bright smile. “She stayed and chatted with me a bit. Said that she was going surfin’ because the fever had struck and that she just had to. I warned her to be careful and she just laughed. She seemed real nice; it would be a shame if something happened to her.”

  “Did you see her after that?”

  “No…but I didn’t really expect to, you know?” The man shook his head, “She was just a customer. A girl like that wouldn’t be interested in a guy like me.”

  Potter felt another wave a pain crash into him. If he had never taught Puck how to surf then she wouldn’t be missing right now. “If you see her, give me a call on this number. It’s very important that you do this for me.” He wrote his cell number down and handed it to the man. Potter grabbed his coffee and left.

  The gust of wind that hit Potter as he stepped out of the shop was an obnoxious reminder that Puck was still out there in this weather. Potter drained the scalding hot coffee and threw the cup away in the nearest trash can. He walked over to Dave’s car and climbed in, hating the awkward silence that permeated the place. His friends were trying to be supportive, to show their concern- Potter wished they would just stop. This wasn’t helping Puck any. They had just given up. Potter hated it. Hated being so useless, the girl he loved was in danger and all he could do was drink coffee and ride in a silent car.

  “They’re reporting Puck missing on all the radio stations. I’m sure we’ll get information soon.”

  “Sure.”

  “Look, if you need to talk…”

  “I know.”

  Dave put the car in gear and drove out of the parking lot. Potter watched the scenery speed by. He knew Dave was right and that someone had to be there for Perri, but this all seemed wrong. He was giving up on Puck. Was he really just going to sit at home and wait for the coast guard’s call? He hated being so bloody useless. This was wrong.

  “Stop the car!”

  “What?”

  “I can’t leave. Not until they’ve found Puck. Call my cell phone if you hear any news.” Potter stepped out of the car before Dave could protest. The storm had slackened off by now, it was still windy, but the rain had lessened. Potter jogged over to the gas station that they had just left- not really knowing what he planned. He just knew that he couldn’t leave Trinidad until Puck was found.

  A car drove up to his side and Dave jumped out. “You didn’t have to jump out of my car. A simple ‘turn around’ would have worked. So what are you planning?”

  “I don’t know!” Potter said, frustration making his voice rough. “I just can’t leave.”

  “Okay. We’ll go back to the beach.”

  Potter looked at Dave- his clothes were all drenched, his face looked drawn and tired. He couldn’t keep Dave out in weather like this. “Dude, just go home. I’m going to walk around, ask people if they’ve seen her. My car is at the beach, I’ll be fine.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, go comfort Perri.”

  Potter watched his friend walk away, still unsure about where exactly he would go. He went into the gas station’s market and headed for the counter. A teenager wearing Goth clothes and a spiky hairdo stood behind the counter banging out a solo with plastic straws. He straightened up when he saw Potter, put the straws down and stared open mouthed at him.

  Potter looked down and winced. He had run out of the house in the clothes he’d slept in. The rain had completely soaked through the white t-shirt and pajama bottoms he had been wearing. Potter shook his head. That wasn’t important right now.

  “Have you seen a girl...” Potter paused. How should he describe her? He didn’t have a picture of her with him. He cleared his throat. “She’s about this high, she has light brown hair with blond highlights, she’s pretty small, has blue eyes that twinkle, and freckles across her nose.” Potter made useless little gestures trying to describe Puck. “She’s been missing since around four this morning. She’d be really wet and maybe injured. Have you seen her?”

  “No man,” the clerk said. He picked up his straws and continued his drum solo.

  Potter stared at him for a full second before forcing himself to walk away. He would like to teach that punk to show some respect. Fuming with anger, Potter stalked out of the market. He walked along the main road and stopped at every local business. Everyone showed concern and was willing to help out in any way, but no one had actually seen Puck.

  It looked as if Puck had driven here early this morning, picked up a coffee and headed out to the beach. From there she just disappeared. Potter forced himself to push his grief aside. He had to help. He couldn’t let his feelings get in the way of finding Puck. The rain had picked up again as he walked to the beach. He was maybe a block or two away from the parking lot when he saw a quaint little house. It looked like a cottage from a fairy tale. There were flowers growing in a pot in the window sill, ivy climbed up the white stucco walls and the yard looked well kept, but in a wil
der sort of way. It was beautiful.

  Potter didn’t know why he did it. He certainly shouldn’t have noticed this cottage at all. It sat in a little hollow made by trees and had a long curving driveway that led to the main road. Potter walked down the driveway and knocked on the door. As he stood waiting for the door to open, he berated himself for wasting time. Why was he at this house?

  The door slowly opened and an elderly lady stepped out. She had snow white hair that was piled on top of her head, little granny glasses, and was wearing a house coat with little pink flowers. She had a plump body, a kind smile, and youthful looking eyes. Any kid would have loved her to be their grandma.

  “Can I help you?” She looked Potter up and down and grimaced. “Oh dear, you were out in the storm weren’t you? Young people today, they just don’t have the sense to get out of the rain. Come in, come in.” Granny opened the door for Potter and ushered him in. She handed him a towel and put tea on the burner.

  “Shhh, now don’t talk until you are dry. There is a shower in the back. Go take a shower. Have you had lunch yet? I was just fixing some sandwiches for us; I’ll make an extra one for you too.” She smiled kindly at Potter and pushed him towards the shower.

  “You’re dripping on my floor. Go take a shower, there will be time enough to talk when you’re through.”

  Potter felt like he had stepped into another world. He never thought that he’d identify with Alice of Wonderland, but he certainly felt like he had stepped into a rabbit hole. He found himself taking a shower and wrapping the towel around his waist. He looked around for his clothes, but the old lady must have taken them.