In the time before time stretched its limbs and yawned into the patterns of modern man, the Earth spun silently, nursing its fiery heart. Many millennia later, when humans had paved much of the wild underfoot and had begun to yearn for lost thrills, they conjured new ones. And so was born the Lava Surfer’s Challenge.
It was the first day of the event, and the volcano, an ancient crone of the Earth named Mauna Kea, had shrewdly stifled her irritability for the occasion. The competitors gathered at her base – an eclectic medley of souls from distinct edges of the world, each carrying boards crafted by prophecy and science alike. They shared a universal twinkle of madness; it was, after all, a madness to surf on lava.
Among them stood Sable, from the cold forests of the north, her board long and threaded with runes of ice; Femi, whose board shimmered like the sun-kissed sands of her desert home; and Tua, with a board carved from ancient oceanic woods, wearing his ocean’s tattooed tales on his skin.
They could not just surf the lava. That alone would be an earthly act. To win, they had to woo the spirits residing in the inferno under Mauna Kea by unriddling their cryptic esse – a secret peeled from olden myths transformed anew each year.
The horns sounded, raspy like the throat of Gaia, and the earth shook as Mauna Kea breathed beneath them. The first to leap was Sable, whose frosty board hissed and steamed against the orange molten waves. With each twist and turn, she whispered oaken incantations, an old language supposed to placate fire spirits. But the lava trembled beneath her, and whispers turned to murmurs until they climaxed in a gargantuan wave. Sable carved through it, emerging like a figure in a myth, painted in steamy silhouettes.
Femi followed, her surfboard dissipating heat like the mirage of a desert oases. Her dance was a celebration of sun, sand, and endurance. She glided over the lava with the ease of a summer breeze over dunes, her board weaving cooling spells that solidified portions of molten earth momentarily. The spirits, enthralled or perhaps beguiled, thrummed under her, coaxing the lava into deceitful stillness.
And then Tua took to his board. There was a storm within him; he was not just the rider but also the tide. The ancient carvings on his surfboard pulsed against the fiery torrents, his ancestors’ voices singing through the bubbling groans of the volcano. With each leap and dive, he seemed to be performing a ritual, an invocation of oceanic peace against fiery chaos.
As the competition continued, Femi, closest to the great plume’s core, paused. Her board, a sliver of shadow over orange rage, quivered. She bent down and listened. She could hear it first — a low, mournful howling that grew fervent with her attention. Here were the lava spirits, their voices ensnarled in the molten rivers.
“The secret,” one whispered with the hiss of escaping steam, “is respect.”
It was not about cooling the fire or riding atop; it was acknowledging it, feeling its pulse and permitting it into one’s own. This secret slipped into Femi’s heart, and she stood again, balancing respect and thrill on her surfboard, shifting her weight to merge the rhythms of her body with the capering bursts and falls of liquid flame.
The others felt it too; a subtle shift, a reconciliation of sorts. The volcanoes like Mauna Kea were alive, and alive was sacred. As they rode through, they no longer just faced a challenge but participated in an ageless dialogue with nature.
When the horns sounded again, it was not just the end of the challenge, but the beginning of tales that would weave through time. The participants, survivors of Mauna Kea’s fiery test, carried away the whispers of lava spirits in their hearts, each a guardian of the sacred fury they once dared to ride.
And Mauna Kea, the mighty crone, mused in silence, for hers was a world where fire danced and humans learned, not merely of limits to conquer but of spirits to comprehend.
Story Club Questions
- What do you think drives the characters to participate in the Lava Surfer’s Challenge?
- How do the different elements (ice, desert, ocean) contribute to the personalities and styles of surfing for Sable, Femi, and Tua?
- What role do you think the spirits of Mauna Kea play in the story?
- How do the characters’ interactions with the lava spirits change over the course of the story?
- What is the significance of the secret “respect” revealed by the lava spirits?
- How can the story be interpreted as a commentary on humanity’s relationship with nature?
- In what ways do you think ancient myths and modern thrills intersect in the story?
Historical Notes
The character of Mauna Kea is based on an actual volcano located on the island of Hawaii. It is one of the most significant volcanic mountains in the world and has a long history intertwined with Hawaiian mythology and traditions.
Surfing itself holds deep cultural importance in Hawaiian history, a practice dating back to ancient Polynesian culture. This story blends the ancient thrill of surfing with a mythical and fantastical element of surfing on lava.
Further Reading
- Mauna Kea – Wikipedia
- History of Surfing – Wikipedia
- Hawaiian Mythology – Wikipedia
- Surfing Legends: Chuck Baldwin
Related Movies and TV Shows
- The Endless Summer – A classic documentary about the sport of surfing.
- Moana – An animated movie that delves into Polynesian myths and acknowledging nature’s spirits.
- Surfs Up – A comical animated film that combines surfing culture with unique adventures.
- Kona: A Tribute to Surfing – A documentary focusing on the surf culture in Hawaii.
Activities
- Mythology Writing Exercise: Create your own myth inspired by natural elements in your local environment. How do the elements interact with humans?
- Board Design Activity: Draw and design a surfboard that symbolizes your own connection with nature. What runes, symbols, or imagery will you include?
- Respect and Nature Observation: Spend a day in a natural setting and write about your observations. Reflect on how respect plays a role in interacting with this environment.
- Themed Discussion Group: Organize a discussion on human interactions with natural elements and how these interactions are depicted in various forms of media and literature.