The war had been over now for two year. His family had come to Hawaii for the summer. His uncle had been stationed at Pearl Harbor to work on the many ships that needed repair there since the attack on Pearl. He was 17 that summer. And he thought that he should have been able to do a lot more then his mother and uncle were allowing him to do. Instead, he had been told to watch over his younger sister. This was putting a damper on his growing desire to check out the scenes for girls his own age.

That morning he was down at the Waikiki beach. His mother and sister were out shopping.  She had dropped him off at the beach. He didn't know that his mother was sensitive to his needs and desires and this was her way of trying to reward him for helping out as he had.

He had been walking the beach for about a half an hour checking out the scene. He had found a place where he could rent a surfboard if he wanted. Thinking to himself, this should be easy to learn. What difference would it be to skateboarding back at home? Positive he could master it, he chose a board. He even turned down a basic free lesson from the renter.

Standing on the beach, he watched the other boys paddling out to the breakwater and some who were catching the waves. Smiling to himself, he walked into the water. When the waves were up to his hips he got onto the board.

Somehow things didn't work out as well as he thought. The first wave tossed him off his board and into the water. Retrieving his board he tried it again. This time he was at the third wave when the wave rolled him over. Fortunately, this time he was able to keep hold of the board.

Finally, he was able to get to where the rest of the surfers were waiting for the right wave. He noticed that there were several kids there, way younger then himself. One boy in particular seemed young to him. The boy had curly sandy hair and was very tan. It looked like he must have played in the sun a lot.

He watched as the young boy and his friends caught wave after wave and were able to surf with apparent ease. 'This can't be that hard if he can do this,' he thought to himself. Gathering his courage, he paddled out to try to catch his first wave.

Just as he thought he could stand, the board slipped out from under him sending him head first into the water. He was rolled and buffeted by the wave. Finally the ocean spat him out onto the beach. Retrieving his board once again, he paddled out back to the rest of the surfers.

The young boy was laughing with his friends. The boy kept looking over at him. He was sure they were laughing at him. Determined to do this, he again paddled out to catch another wave. He got the same results, only this time the board kept bumping into him in the wave.

Quitting wasn't in him. He tried several more times with the same results. Getting peeved, he stood on the beach for a moment after his last wave watching the others as they glided along the waves.

The young boy was on the beach now with his friends. They had taken a break just long enough to get something to drink. He watched as the boy came towards him. The other boys called him to join him, but the boy yelled back, "I'll be there soon 'nough."

The young boy came over to him. Unsure what to do, he stood still holding onto his board. 

"Aloha. I've been watching you try to learn how to surf. You know, you have a good board there, but you need to learn how to control it," the young boy said.

"And I suppose you can teach me," he said at bit defensively.

"I didn't mean anything by that, just thought maybe I could help you," the boy said.

"Yeah, and how long have you been surfing?" he snipped. He didn't think this kid knew too much about surfing. How could he, he was too young he thought.

Laughing a little, the boy smiled back at him. "I've been surfing now for two years. My uncle and cousins taught me when I was five."

He looked at the boy again. The boy seemed confident enough in what he was saying, so maybe he was telling him the truth. "OK! You think you can teach me?" he asked.

"Sure, if you really want to learn. It's similar to skateboarding but the ground moves along with you and likes to toss you off your board if you're not careful," the curly haired boy stated. "Come on. Me and my friends can teach you. You do what we tell you and you'll be riding the wave soon enough."

"I thought you were going to teach me?" he asked. He didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of so many people.

"We sort of teach each others. Kimo out there," pointing to the smaller of the boys out on one of the waves right now, "has been surfing longer then I have."

"How old is he?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Kimo! He's my age, seven. He was taught by his father and brother when he was only four," the boy informed him. Waving to the other boy, the boy said once again, "Come on, the waves are waiting."

He joined the younger boys who all accepted him with smiles and encouragement. Soon he was riding the waves with more confidence. By the end of the day, he felt better about himself. The boys had made him feel like he was an old friend. They had even invited him to come back the next day.

Saying goodbye, he returned his rented board and called his mother to come pick him up.

During the rest of the summer, he met the young boy to learn more about surfing. Soon the boy and he were good friends. He learned that the boy had lost both of his parents during the attack at Pearl. He was taken in by his uncle and adopted, in a way, by a Hawaiian family. The boy's O'hana family took him into their families too, accepting him as one of them.

Through them he learned about Hawaii and it's people. Kimo's dad even took him and the boys out on his sailboat where he learned how to sail.

One day, towards the end of the summer, he and the boy rented an outrigger to take out into the bay. There were seven of them on the outrigger. Paddling out past the breakwater they talked about the shark that had been seen lately in Waikiki Bay. They had been prevented from surfing for several days because of this. That is why they decided to rent the outrigger.

It was a lot of fun paddling with the others. His arms were getting stronger from all the workouts from surfing and paddling. He always liked to keep himself in shape. Every morning he would run a couple of miles before he came back home for breakfast.

His uncle had been talking to him about his maybe joining up in one of the military branches. He hadn't told his uncle yet, but he had gone down to the Navy to check out what they had to offer for him. He knew soon that he would have to join one of the branches.

Out on the outrigger, he didn't think about his future at the moment. Being part of this group was exciting to him. The younger boys had started to look up to him and accepting him as a natural leader. A large wave had caught the back of the outrigger and had turned it sideways. The boys paddled quickly trying to turn the outrigger back correctly to face the next wave coming towards them.

They we're quick enough and the next wave rolled the outrigger over dumping the boys into the ocean. He was rolled along with the wave for a bit, as was his young friend. Swimming back towards the outrigger, he felt something bump his leg. Looking around himself, he saw a dorsal fin break out of the water. The other boys were yelling at him and their friend to quickly get back to the outrigger, which they had righted.

Panic almost seized him when he saw the shark. His young friend was the furthest away from the boat and trying to make his way back. The shark was between him and his friend. He saw his friend receiving a bump like he did from the shark. He decided to try to help his friend out by swimming towards him. The others in the outrigger were paddling towards the two of them also.

The shark had turned back towards them now. He finally had reached his friend and was swimming next to him back towards the outrigger, which was very close now. Grabbing the side of the outrigger he reached out to the boy. The shark was very close to both of them swimming in circles around them.

The boy had reached his side when the shark came straight towards them once again. Quickly sliding into the outrigger, he reached out to help his young friend. The shark was almost on top of the boy. The boy's eyes were large with fear as the shark came near him.

"Help me!" the boy yelled as the shark….

"Steve! Steve! Wake up!" someone was yelling at him.

"What? Huh?" McGarrett said as he woke up with a start.

Danny was standing over him while were he lay on the couch. Danny's hand was gently shaking his shoulder.

"You were yelling. I came in to see what was the matter. It looks like you must have been dreaming," the young detective told his boss.

Sitting up now, McGarrett shook his head trying to shake off the webs of sleep still with him. Looking up at Danny, McGarrett realized that he must have indeed been dreaming.

"Thanks, Danno. I'm OK." McGarrett said smiling but slightly embarrassed.

"That must have been some dream. You were yelling like crazy 'Shark, shark!' Want to tell me about it?" Danny asked his friend.

"No, not really."

"Well, OK, but if you want to talk about it let me know."

Getting up McGarrett ran his fingers through his hair briefly and straighten his tie. He walked over to the lanai doors and opened them up. Walking out onto the lanai he stood next to the railing. Standing there he thought back to his dream.

No, the shark hadn't gotten to his young friend. For some reason the shark had turned away at the last moment and disappeared. McGarrett remembered that that was the summer that he first had met Danny. How funny old friends sometimes meet again years latter to renew their friendships of youth.