The Day Of The Wave Read Online Free PDF

the pages aren't falling out by now. I thank him gratefully. Truth is I'm stuffed but the duck dish smells so good. I scoop a forkful of the tender meat into my mouth as it's placed before me and Chinda claps her hands together. 
    'You like?' she grins.
    'I love,' I reply as the zingy, sweet and sour flavors zip across my tongue. Thai food is incredible, even better from the source. 
    'Iss-laa funny name,' Chinda says thoughtfully, studying me. 
    'It's pronounced Eye-la,' I tell her. 'That's not as funny as some of the names people have for me,' I continue quickly as I note her eyes moving to my un-drunk cocktail. 'Someone named me Bizzy once.' 
    The second I say it, the flip of my heart makes me swallow my food too quickly and I cough, reaching for my water. 'Bizzy?' Chinda frowns.
    'It was short for British Izzy,' I explain, banging a fist to my chest. 
    She's still frowning. 'Why you have so many name?'
    'I don't know,' I say. I want to laugh at the look on her face, at the moment of cultures clashing between us, but all I can see now is Ben again. I haven't thought about him in a while; not properly anyway, I don't think, but that dream on the plane brought it all back and being here, so close... I can't stop thinking about it all now.
    'Why you have scar?' Chinda says out of the blue. 
    'What?' My stomach convulses, harder this time. I put my fork down. She's looking inquisitively at the raised white marks splaying like the remnants of removed tattoos, shaped like braches across my flesh. I fold my arms, say nothing, fix my eyes on the food on my plate. It's not Chinda's fault. She doesn't know people don't ask questions like this where I'm from. Sometimes I wish they would. Sometimes I wish they'd just fucking ask me instead of staring at me; assuming things, judging, gossiping, thinking I must've been some hopeless emo teen who slit her wrists, or something. I almost say it now; that one word. Tsunami. She'd understand. But something stops me.
    Chinda looks towards the door again. There's no one there. She stands up shaking her head. Whether it's at my silence or the no-show I'm pretty sure just occurred I have no idea, and I don't care. She bustles into the kitchen. I reach for the drink. 
    Ben. I can see him again now, the night before it all went wrong; his hand in mine as we stood watching the Thai guy twirling those flames on the sand. I can see him eight days before that, too. The day we met.

    *

    'Shark! Shark! Get out of the water!'
    My head sprang up in utter terror at the voice. I span three-sixty in fear, yanked off my mask and snorkel, looking for a fin. Then I came to my senses and swam as fast as I could back to the shore with my heart pounding and my arms flailing. 
    'Shark! Shark!' I screeched at full volume, trying to warn the other people in the shallows. My mom and dad were there somewhere. I couldn't see them. I couldn't see anything much, I was so blinded by fear. Before I could raise any real alarm though, a hand clasped around my ankle and pulled me back. I screamed and lashed out, but two hands clamped on my shoulders and a grinning face forced me to stop in my tracks. 'Hey, I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I'm sorry! There's no shark!'
    'What the hell are you doing!?' I yelled at the boy, bringing up my hands and showering him with water. 'Are you insane?!' I scrambled to my feet, splashed him again. Fury and humiliation were making me shake and stumble and he took my wrists then, stopped laughing. 
    'Hey, I'm sorry. I really am. I thought it was funny...'
    ' Since when are sharks funny ?' My heart continued to thud, thud, thud as I glared at him. He shoved his mask up onto his head, fixed his eyes on mine. They were the color of the water and his lashes were black wet brushes sweeping droplets away in the sun. For a second I was mesmerized. I reached up for my own mask. It wasn't there. 
    'Great. My dad'll have to pay three quid for a new one now, because of you,' I managed to snap, though