The Swell

What is a friendship but a sum of the memories of the time you spent with someone? And the better the memories, the better the friendship.

...we can't escape our fears. We have to face them. That's what we try to do in our training sessions. Experts call it exposure therapy.

When Mikki had mentioned the group, I'd imagined a bunch of hippies who wore flowers in their hair, smoked weed, and danced barefoot around a campfire. Not this. Clustered in close as they discuss what to do with me, they remind me of a sports teams plotting how to wipde out the enemy.

Pain is hard to quantify; everyone has a different tolerance to it.

Back pain is different, though. Your back’s the centre of your body and it’s a whole heap harder to ignore. Fear adds to the mix. If you know this is the worst it’s going to be, you might be able to cope. It’s the not knowing that’s the killer. How much worse is it going to get?

A larger wave splashes up against the rocks. My shorts get soaked but I don’t care. I lick my lips and taste salt. God, I’ve missed that. I scoot forward until my feet are the water. And it’s like I’m washing my soul.