High Tide in Hawaii

faces.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” Annie cried when they got closer. “Are you in trouble?”
    â€œWe
all
are!” said Jack. “A tsunami might be coming! There was an earthquake when I was on the beach!”
    â€œWe’d better ride in fast!” said Boka.
    â€œStay on your bellies!” said Kama. “It’s safer!”
    â€œHere comes a wave!” cried Boka.
    They all started paddling.
    The swell of the wave picked them up. They were all swept forward!
    Jack gripped the sides of his board as he zoomed along with the others. Suddenly he dropped down as the wave curled under. It felt like a roller coaster! But he stayed on his board as the wave carried him to shore.
    Jack rolled off into the shallow water. He snatched up his board and ran onto the sand. Boka and Kama were waiting.
    â€œGood riding, Jack!” said Boka.
    â€œWhere’s Annie?” asked Jack.
    Boka pointed. Annie was in the shallow water, pulling her board in. As they watched, something very weird began to happen to the ocean.
    The water around Annie started to pull away.

 

    â€œRun, Annie!” Jack screamed.
    The water drew away from the beach, and a loud hissing sound came from the sea.
    Suddenly fish flopped on the bare sand!
    Annie threw down her board and ran. She grabbed Jack’s hand as she ran by him. Jack grabbed Boka’s hand, and Boka grabbed Kama’s hand. They all ran together, pulling each other along as they raced to the cliff.
    Boka and Kama ran up the cliff path. Jack and Annie grabbed their shoes and Jack’s pack. Then they scrambled up the path, too.
    At the top of the cliff, everyone looked back. Jack couldn’t believe his eyes!

    A wave was rising up like a dark mountain of water. It came surging toward the shore, growing even taller!
    â€œWow,”
whispered Annie.
    â€œGet back!” shouted Boka.
    The four of them bolted back from the edge of the rocky slope. The mountain of water crashed against the cliff. Water sprayed over the top of the rocks and rained down on them.
    When the water rolled back over the cliff, they all hurried back to the edge to see what had happened.
    The rocky cliff path was gone. The gigantic wave was moving back out to sea, taking rocks, sand, seaweed, seashells, and the surfboards with it.
    â€œScary,” breathed Annie.
    â€œYeah,” said Jack. “We just made it.”
    â€œBoka! Kama!” voices yelled.
    They turned around. Jack saw Boka and Kama’s parents racing across the meadow toward them. Other villagers followed.
    The two Hawaiian kids ran into their parents’ arms. Soon Jack and Annie were surrounded by villagers. Everyone was laughing and crying and hugging each other.
    Jack hugged Annie. He hugged Kama and Boka and their parents—and lots of other people he didn’t even know.

 

    Finally, the hugging and crying and laughing died down. The villagers started walking back to their huts.
    Jack and Annie followed Boka, Kama, and their parents.
    â€œWe felt the ground shaking,” said Boka and Kama’s father. “We knew a big wave might follow!”
    â€œJack saved us!” said Boka. “He read in a book and found out about the big waves.”
    â€œWhat’s a book?” asked his mother.
    â€œShow them,” Annie said to Jack.
    Jack reached into his pack and took out their research book.
    â€œIt tells about the big waves in here,” he said. “Books give lots of information.”
    â€œAh,” said Boka and Kama’s mother. “A book is a good thing.”
    â€œBooks tell stories, too,” said Annie.
    â€œThat is impossible,” said Kama. “The book cannot move its feet or wave its hands. It cannot sing or chant.”
    â€œThat’s true,” said Jack, smiling.
    â€œNow we should do the hula,” Boka said to Annie, Kama, and Jack, “and tell our story.”
    â€œI’ll watch,” said Jack, stepping away.
    Boka and Kama’s father called for music.
    The villagers gathered around. A man started to play a pipe. A teenage boy knocked two sticks together. Some women began shaking rattles.
    Boka, Kama, and Annie waved their hands in time to the music. They stepped from side to side. They swayed their hips.
    Kama chanted about going out into the water. She, Boka, and Annie waved their hands to show how they paddled out to sea.
    Kama chanted about how Jack had warned them. She and the others