Inspired by the Internet by AlphaArmor

Ocean Man by AlphaArmor (Inspired by the song, "Ocean Man" by Ween.)

"C'mon, Rivers! Hurry up," my sister yelled with an obvious impatient tone.

Peeking over the top of my book's cover, I see her standing by the shore right in front of the crashing waves. I sighed and tried to block out her voice by sinking my face into my novel more. Fortunately, the wind was already blocking out some of the noise. Thanks, Mother Nature, I thought.

I have done this act too many times before, so of course, she came marching over to me. She glared down at me like a hawk. Refusing to move my eyes off of the book's pages just made her more upset. Finally, she smacked the book out of my hands and I stood up with my fists clenched and eyebrows narrowed. This happened every time we came to the beach. It was practically a routine. Although it was typical, I got angry every time.

"Bethany!" I harshly said to my obnoxious sibling through grit teeth.

"Rivers!" She mocked me in a teasing tone. I peered down at the sand and noticed my book. Dropping to my knees, I began to pick it up. Like any irritating sibling, Bethany put her foot on my shoulder, attempting to crush me. She points to her surfboard on her right, which is sticking vertically out of the sand. "Rivers, last week, you promised to let me teach you how to surf next time we came."

I replied with the usual whine of, "So?" As I gently tossed my book onto the towel I was once sitting on, I pushed my sister's foot off of my shoulder and stood up to face her.

"You promised! Didn't you swear to be honest when you took oath in Boy Scouts or whatever?" Bethany giggled at her "clever" joke. Yeah, maybe clever to her standards. In return to her remark, I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"Bethany, you have been begging for weeks and you know how much I hate swimming," I said while I twisted my heel into the sand, feeling the tiny grains dig into the bottom of my foot. "I would much rather stay right here."

"Rivers!" She hissed at me. Her brown eyes that looked all too similar to mine were like staring right into my soul. To avoid her stare, I turned my head away. As I did, I noticed all of the families that had come for the day. Almost all of the groups had a colorful umbrella. Some of the people had radios with muffled music playing, others were just talking amongst themselves. I scanned the beach more and noticed two guys throwing around a frisbee. As I watched the disk glide through the air, I must have zoned out.

"RIVERS!" Bethany yelled again and this knocked me out of my trance. My head and shoulders dropped and I let out a groan.

"Fine..." I whined. "We can go swimming. Not surfing. Swimming is a big enough challenge for me."

Her body perked up and she clasped her hands together with joy. Her smile? Oh, of course it was huge. If anyone could get a world record for "Fastest Mood Swings," it would be Bethany. One second, she is furious. The next, she is filled with glee.

Bethany grabbed me by the wrist and brutally pulled me near the water. Eventually, she lets me go. I slowly walk forwards until I land in a squishy mush. It was wet sand. I had to admit, it was softer and more pleasant than the dry sand that would stick to your skin after applying sunscreen. After walking even closer, I found myself where the waves would rise up, thus making the sand damp. It looked more like bubbly, white foam rather than water.

I kept moving and finally, my feet were fully submerged in water. At that point, I could smell the salt from the ocean. It was strong and lightly stung my nostrils. It smelled like the aftermath of a rain storm. However, that was a more enjoyable smell.

Turning towards Bethany, I could see her bright grin. "Isn't this fun?" She questioned. I have been in the water for five seconds. What kind of answer was she expecting?