Hona

“Never turn your back on the ocean,” reads the signs leading down to the beach, but with the help of a mask and snorkel, my trepidation gives way to a meditative calm. Katie and I drift over the reef, watching the fish nibble on algae, all of us surging in and out with the surf.

On the way back in to shore, as the clear waters further offshore give way to sandy churn, out of the murk appears a wizened face, then a shell, and his eyes peer into mine as he swims by.

When I come up to tell Katie, another couple is already floating on the surface, and the woman says to the man, “I told you there was a turtle.”