Mutations

July 16-17, 2003

July 16-17, 2003

My birthday was just over a month ago, June fifteenth. One of dad's friends invited us to go out on his boat with him. I had never been on a boat and my dad thought it would be fun, so we went to the yacht club where he kept his boat. It was at the Seattle sailing club right on the Puget Sound. We were about two or three miles out, I looked over the edge of the boat and there were fish close enough to the surface for me to see them. I put my hand in the water and they all swam away, fast. Matthew saw what I was doing and chuckles.

"You want them to come back?" He asked. He took out an old loaf of bread form under his seat, there was black mold growing on it. "Throw little pieces in and they'll come back." He gave me a piece of bread, I broke off a piece and threw it in. Sure enough the fish came back and ate the bread. In under thirty minutes I hand thrown the whole loaf in the water with fish nibbling at it.

"There's a storm coming," my dad's friend said, Mark was his name, "We should head back." Above us was a big grey cloud, it was moving towards us. Dad threw two life jackets at Matthew and me.

"Put these on, you need them to get off the boat or they'll kick us out of the yacht club," he said. They were bright orange the had three black straps that went all the way around the back of the jacket, with buckles on the front to keep them on. Matthew put his on then helped me put mine on I couldn't get the life jacket to fit me the straps were too loose. Mark Turned the boat's engine on and started back to the shore.

"It might get a little wavy so hold on," Mark said. He was right, the wind picked up and it started raining. The wind blew harder, I got colder too. I tried to ball up to stay warmer but the life jacket was too bulky I couldn't really move. Matthew moved over and sat next to me. He picked me up and sat me on his lap.

"You're getting too big for this," he said, rubbing my back under the life jacket to make me warmer. About five minutes later I could see the yacht club. It was still raining and windy. A wave hit the back of the boat it knocked me off of Matthew into the back back of dad's seat. Everything was fuzzy, I felt my body hit the water. I gasped for air, choking on water. The life jacket kept me floating, I looked back at the boat, it was upside down. Dad came around from the other side of the boat and grabbed on to me, Matthew was right behind him. He was about to say something but a wave came crashing down on top of us. He still had a firm grasp on my arm. We came back to the surface, Matthew was at least twenty feet away. I could see him saying something but I couldn't hear him. Another wave went over our heads, and Matthew was farther away. I was crying by then.

"Buddy, look at me," he shook me. I looked into his eyes,they were at my eye level now, "We are going to be okay." He took breaths between each word. "You got to listen to me. We have to get to the beach, okay?" I nodded, but the beach looked like it was five-hundred yards away. Dad never let go of me, he pushed me alone, I tried to kick and pull to stay ahead of him, but he had to pull or push me forward. He kept say things to encourage me like, "Come on buddy, you can do it," or "You're doing great the beach is right there."

I had to keep moving, but I just got colder and colder, but the rain had stopped, it was hard to move I got so cold. Dad could stand now, the water was still up to his shoulders. He was carrying me, more just guiding me forward. I felt a sting on my leg and yelped, dad must have felt it took because he grunted.

"Daddy, what was that?" I asked, tears started rolling down my cheeks. My head really hurts, I'm dizzy too.

"It's just a jellyfish, you'll be okay, buddy," he said. He took off his life jacket, then picked me up and took off mine, once the water was at his waist level. His shirt was wet and cold, but I leaned in towards him because he was warmer than the water. There was no one on the beach, it was closed. My dad walked over to the lifeguards' office, there was still three people inside, they were all guys, probably collage students. Dad put me down, I hugged myself shivering. He tapped on the door he opened his mouth to say something then he collapsed. All three guys ran out.