close encounters

[spork]

Was about ten meters away from my mate in the lineup and paddling for the horizon as a largish set bore down on us. Out of the corner of my eye I see a fin surface just as he duckdived the first wave in the set. I was slightly behind and to the left. The wave peaked in front of me and I had no choice but to duck into the face. There was a flash of black and I actually pulled the board back towards me as i saw the movement in the face. My head was right over the front of the board and I lay momentarily in that place where time stands still and you think about your loved ones. The eye in my face was only fleeting in its glance, but the smile on its face filled me relief. Phew, a dolphin.