Tought I'd try something new. I wasnt feeling very inspirational with my current stories, so I thought I'd take a break from them while still giving you guys a little treat. =) Enjoy! & Vote/comment?
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The waves rolled around my body while small spouts of water jumped up into the air and little droplets sprayed over my face. The cold water cooled down my body from the scorching sun's heat as I looked up into the light blue sky above.
The sound of children laughing, and adults bickering under the shade of many beach umbrella's brought me out from my daydreaming and back to reality. I rolled onto my back on my purple towel that was covered with sand and squinted up at the bright sun. Sitting up, I reached for my sunglasses next to my towel and put them on after tying my hair into a high pony-tail. My skin was red all over and I sighed knowing I should have put on more sunscreen. Skin-cancer however, was the last thing on my mind.
I looked out beyond the people basking on the beach in front of me, and focused on the kids playing joyfully in the ocean. I remember when I used to be as care-free in the water.
I closed my eyes and let the memory fill my mind.
I was about five years old when it happened.
My parents were under the beach umbrella taking a nap while I was playing alone in the shallow end of the water, not even close to where the waves were breaking. Being the curious child I was however, I began taking small steps deeper into the water while looking back now and then to make sure my parents weren't watching. They had told me not to go any deeper than my waist when they weren't close by, but I had seen so many other kids make swimming look too easy. I wanted to find out for myself.
Once the water was almost up to my solders, I lifted my feet off the ground and began kicking my feet and moving my hands through the water. At first, things were great. I was moving through the water, swimming around in circles with little struggle, but I hadn't really thought much about the waves, or the current. A wave went over my head and I panicked, trying to find the bottom of the ocean floor with the tips of my toes to push myself back up. I managed to get my head back above the water long enough to scream out for help while looking ashore for my parents. I knew I had drifted a little, but I wasn't aware of how much until I noticed how far away I really was from the beach. I started waving both my hands over my head in the air frantically for someone to notice me, right before another wave crashed over my head, making my body tumble around with the wave. Everything around me went quiet. I remember I could hear nothing but the flow of the ocean surrounding me in those moments I thought would be my last. I tried opening my eyes under the water to see which way was up, but It was useless. The salt water burned my eyes and my lungs screamed for fresh air, so I just gave up, letting the deep ocean swallow my body whole.
Suddenly I felt a sharp pain under my armpits, and I was being pulled up through the water effortlessly. The lifeguard looked me in the eyes while I coughed up salty ocean water. He swan me back to shore after making sure I was still breathing, to my crying parents who both smothered me once I was in their arms.
"Don't you ever scare us like that again Krista!"
My mother hugged me close to her chest while my father patted me on the back reassuringly. I hugged my mother back and told her I was sorry.
"Krista"
The sound of my name being called made my eyes shoot open to see my little cousin Cole starring me directly in the face.
"What is it?"
I asked while taking my sunglasses off.
"I'm bored."
His whole body was covered in sand, including his dark brown hair.
"Why don't you go clean-up in the water, I think were leaving soon."
"Auntie said I'm not allowed in the water alone and she's taking a nap, can you come with me?"
A cute smile appeared on his face with so much excitement, it was hard to say no.
"Alright."
Cole squealed happily and took me by my hand, dragging me with him down the beach, towards the water.
My hand slipped out from his once I was knee deep in the water, and the waves breaking were like snarling dogs, just waiting for me to take another step.
Cole stopped to turn around and look at me with a confused expression.
"Come on Krista! I wanna show you how I swim!"
He reached for my hand again, but I pulled it back.
"The waters really cold… I can watch you from here."
"Come on Krista, Please?"
I stopped for a minute to appreciate Cole and the innocence that he and all children carried, and most teenagers craved. His bottom lip was pouted out purposely and his baby blue eyes looked like they were about to burst with tears if I didn't do as he asked.
Cole reached out his hand again and this time, I took it. His little hand wove between my long fingers and he once again started pulling me along with him deeper into the ocean. We stopped once I was up to my waist, and cole was up to his shoulders. I hadn't been this deep in the water in about 12 years, and it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. The nice cool feeling of the water, the smile on cole's face, made it worth it.
"Watch me Krista!"
Cole let go of my hand and started swimming perfect circles around me while kicking his feet and splashing me every now and then.
After Cole got all the sand off, we walked back to our beach towels and got our turkey sandwiches out from the big red cooler under the umbrella.
"Krista, are you an adult?"
Cole asked in-between a big bite of turkey sandwich.
I frowned at his mature and out of the blue question that I hadn't expected to come out of the mouth of a five year old.
"Not quite yet."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
I gave him a smile before taking a bite of my sandwich.
"Well good, because adults are boring. Its fun hanging out with you."
Many good things happened that day; the bright sun, getting back in the water, and the food. However those beautiful words, made my day.
