Isle of Enchantment Read Free

like a snowboard, and a harness that attached the large kite to our life vests. Tomas glanced nervously at me.
    Fernando had us practice hooking and unhooking the kite from the harness. That was one way we could bail out if the ride got too rough.
    â€œLet tu padre go first,” Fernando patted Dad on the back. He led Dad to the water. We couldn’t hearwhat Fernando said to Dad. But, the next thing we knew, Dad’s kite caught the wind and off he went. Dad bounced across the waves like a rubber ball. He spun in a pattern like a tornado.
    â€œOOO, eeee, OUCH! Aiy-yay- yay!” Dad screamed across the shoreline.
    Fernando dashed across the beach, waving his arms and shouting in Spanish. In a flash, his kite unhooked from his harness and Dad’s body slammed into the sea water. Fernando rushed into the water to make sure Dad was okay.
    â€œSeñor Perez, that was amazing!” Fernando must be an optimist. Dad was red-faced and looked miserable, like he had just gotten into a fist fight.
    â€œI think I broke a rib,” he said, rubbing his side.
    â€œWant to do it again?” Fernando obviously didn’t get Dad’s message.
    â€œNo way, I’m too old for kiteboarding. It hurts to pound into the water.”
    â€œNiños?” Fernando looked at me and Tomas. “Want a turn?”
    After watching Dad bounce like a fish out of water, Tomas and I had a change of heart. Kiteboardingdidn’t look like the sport for us.
    Since I am older than Tomas by six minutes, I took charge. “No thank you.”
    â€œWindsurfing?” Fernando pointed to the windsurfing boards down the beach.
    â€œDoes it hurt like kiteboarding?” Tomas asked.
    â€œNo, no, it is much safer,” Fernando said. He looked like he meant it.
    Tomas shrugged. “Why not? It’s got to be better than slamming against the waves attached to a large kite.”
    Fernando gave me and Tomas a lesson on windsurfing. Dad sat under an umbrella. He said he needed a rest.
    Tomas and I spent the day gliding over the shallow blue water, twisting and turning to catch the tropical breezes. If the breeze slowed down, we fell over and landed in the warm water.
    â€œMarisol, this is awesome!”
    â€œI know! I feel like a bird,” I said.
    â€œI feel like a pirate, sailing away on my own private raft to my own private island,” Tomas laughed. He has quite the imagination.
    â€œTomas, you’re a goofball!” Just as I said it, a wave rolled in and knocked me off my board.
    Dad waved to us from his beach chair. “Hey, kids, time to go get cleaned up for dinner!”
    Tomas and I were starving. We’d been swimming and windsurfing all day. We devoured heaping plates of beans, arroz con pollo, which is chicken with rice, and arroz con dulce, candied coconut rice. After dinner, Mom and Dad decided that we should “soak up the local culture.”
    Mom found a cafe in Old San Juan that had salsa dancing. Tomas and I didn’t want to dance.
    â€œOh, kids, it will be fun,” Mom pleaded with us.
    â€œI don’t know how to salsa dance,” Tomas shook his head.
    â€œYou didn’t know how to windsurf and you learned,” Dad chimed in.
    â€œI don’t want to dance with girls,” Tomas said.
    â€œDance with me then,” Mom suggested.
    â€œOh, no!” Tomas said as he backed away from Mom.
    Dad said we should give Tomas a break because he is going through an “awkward phase.”
    â€œMarisol, want to dance?” Dad held out his hand to me. I shrugged my shoulders.
    â€œSure, why not?”
    Dad and I made our way onto the crowded dance floor. People of all ages were moving to the bright, happy beat of the trombones, trumpets, and drums. I watched how the other dancers moved and tried to step like they did.
    â€œHey, that was my foot,” Dad exclaimed when my foot landed on his.
    â€œSorry, I’m new to this salsa thing,” I