"Watch me!" Adam McGuire shouted to his two companion surfers. The three boys were floating a hundred yards from shore. Lying on their stomachs on their surfboards, they were watching the incoming waves and selecting what looked like the best to ride. Over their heads the sun shone in all its brilliance. The yellow strands of the Australian beach stretched out in either direction as far as their eyes could see. Occasionally they would catch glimpses of the brightly colored sails of windsurfers racing along with the wind. Farther out, near the watery horizon where the gently curved line of the blue ocean met the deeper blue of the sky, fishing vessels were dragging their nets along.

With a thrust of his hands into the water, Adam propelled himself in front of the wave he selected to ride. He waited for the prime moment which would give him the most momentum, and stood his tall, lanky, seventeen-year-old body upright on his surfboard. With knees bent and arms outstretched for balance, he rode in front of the crest of the wave.

 By shifting his weight on the board he zigzagged up and down the height of the wave. At the end of his ride, he skillfully turned the front of his board into the wave and kept his balance as the wave passed. In the trough which followed he lay down and propelled himself back to his friends.

"Adam," one of his companions shouted, pointing, "look at what's coming towards you!" His friends dug their arms into the water and paddled frantically away from Adam toward the shore.

Adam turned to look in the direction his friend had pointed - and froze. Swimming directly for him was a shark whose large dorsal fin projected out of the water. There wasn't time to flee. Within moments he could see the shark's cold unfeeling eyes and he recognized it as a tiger shark. He had seen many of them hanging on wharves, caught by fishermen. There was a mad rush of water as the shark, swimming swiftly, neared him. The whole length of shark's body broke the surface and the great jaws opened, revealing rows of massive, triangular teeth. Adam didn't have time to think; he only had time to react. At the last second Adam rolled off his board into the water. The teeth of the shark clamped down on the board with a loud crunch. The board snapped in its bite.

The slow-witted shark realized that it wasn't the board it wanted, and began to circle around Adam in the water. "It's twelve feet at least," Adam thought to himself as he watched it circle him. With a flick of its tail, the shark turned and darted towards its prey. Adam felt a deep pain in his side as a piece of his flesh was torn away. Wounded, Adam knew he didn't have the strength to resist another attack. Hopeless and helpless to defend himself, he watched the circling shark.