If Wishing Made It So Read Online Free Page A

blue sea of her imaginings. It heaved and roared with an immense power. The waves rolled in and crashed without mercy onto the wet sand. Sandpipers nervously skirted the frothy spume, careful not to be caught by the retreating water.
    But the violent sea filled Hildy with a strange stirring. Everything was in motion around her: the rushing waves, the churning surface of the water, the gulls circling and crying overhead, the fierce wind that tried to pull the new cap from her hair. The sun went behind another cloud and the air seemed almost cruel, but in the next instant the sun returned and the wind tugging on her hat became only mischievous, not malevolent.
    As the cap nearly flew off her hair again, Hildy laughed and grabbed the visor. This was life, sharp and tangy, filled with energy and possibility. Is there danger here by the ocean? she thought. Yes, she answered herself, but it intensifies the moments of joy .
    She sprang to her feet and ran impulsively to the water’s edge. A wave came up and encircled her ankles. Its coldness made her cry out. But the next wave felt warmer as it slapped against her feet. Like a child, she stamped up and down on the sand, watching the tan muck gush up through her toes. She moved deeper into the surf, letting the water soak the bottom of her capri pants. When a large wave receded, she bent over to pick up a pretty seashell—
    And the next thing she knew a huge wall of water knocked her down. Suddenly she was being tossed about, somersaulting in a crazy way underneath the surface of the water. She fought to find her footing, but which way was down? Which way was up?
    All at once, she found herself sitting on the bottom, her head and shoulders above the surface, the wave receding. She coughed and tried to catch her breath. She went to stand but her wet clothes were heavy and made it hard to get her balance.
    She had just gotten to her feet and started staggering toward the beach when another wave hit her hard from behind, knocking her down once more.
    Panic chased all thoughts from her mind. She flailed about, trying to get back to the surface. Suddenly, she was being pulled into deeper water by the undertow. Then, just as relentlessly, she was being swept back toward the beach. She was overpowered and helpless. Her luck seemed to have run out in a very frightening way.
    With a tremendous effort, she stuck her head up and broke into the air, gasping to fill her lungs. Facing the horizon, she couldn’t tell how far from shore she had come. She had also swallowed a great deal of water and was terribly afraid she wouldn’t make it back to land.
    At that moment someone grabbed the back of her shirt, holding her firmly, keeping the waves from snatching her back to deep water.
    With her T-shirt high up under her arms, Hildy choked and coughed as she did an ungainly crablike crawl backward, her fanny scraping the bottom, as her rescuer held her by the neck of her shirt. Finally her shoulders hit a pair of legs.
    ‘‘I have you!’’ a man’s voice yelled. ‘‘Stop struggling! You’ll be out in a minute.’’
    A strong arm reached down and encircled the bare skin of her waist, then lifted her up. She was carried toward the beach folded over the man’s arm like a rag doll until she was dumped into a sitting position on the dry sand. She put her hands down to steady herself. She was trembling all over and felt weak with relief. She also noted that her bra and white T-shirt were practically transparent, but she felt too glad at being safe to worry about modesty.
    ‘‘Are you okay?’’ the man’s kindly voice inquired.
    Hildy kept her head down and coughed, then sucked in more air. ‘‘I think so,’’ she managed to answer.
    ‘‘Here, I even grabbed your hat,’’ the man said. ‘‘I think it will be good as new when it dries out.’’
    A well-tanned hand extended her yellow cap toward her. She took it and looked up. The sun blinded her. She couldn’t see her rescuer’s