There Are Times When Friends Become Rivals

We grew up on the same line of waves.
Surfboards scratched in the same places, the same morning sun burning our skin, and laughter breaking out every time one of us fell.

He was my closest friend.
Until that day came.

A chest-high wave rolled in perfectly—clean, beautiful, and with only one best line to ride. We looked at each other. No words. Just heartbeats suddenly louder than the crash of the sea.

He paddled first.
I followed.

In a split second, an unspoken rule was broken. Boards crossed, water exploded, and cheers from the beach turned into shouts. I fell. He rode on—alone—on a wave that should have belonged to the three of us.

In the calm water afterward, we faced each other. No anger, only realization: in the ocean, friendship is tested by courage and by choice.

That day, we were no longer friends.
But not enemies either.

We were simply two surfers learning that sometimes, to move forward, you must face off—
even against the person you trust the most.