Falling

• Kara Freitag, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2019

I could think of multiple reasons why I was terrified! Starting something new like this wasn't exactly my strong suit. Though I don’t think that being drenched, freezing and shaky would be on anyone's wish list. Suping (stand up paddle boarding) wasn’t a word that made me jump with excitement.

As I slowly placed my left foot onto the board, it quivered, making ripples in the cold blue - green water. “In 3, 2, 1 you will all place both feet onto the board and push off the surface” explained the instructor. No way, I couldn’t! Situating my right foot onto the board would only lead to falling. Falling into the unwelcoming wintry lake!

It felt like hours since I had first pushed off onto the water and it still hadn’t become any more pleasant. Kneeling on my board in the middle of the lake the board drifted. Although I tried hard to direct the movement with my paddle, the board would not listen. I continued to drift further and further away from the group.

My heart pounded faster the further away I got. Suddenly the board came to a stop and I turned my head around. I had hit a bunch of weeds. The weeds were a light green and seemed to dance in the wind. As much as I felt safer at a stop, I was more worried to be further away from the group. So I slowly pushed against the weeds with my paddle and I began to move forward. Standing up I began to paddle and this time the board listened. This time I didn’t feel like I was falling, but I felt something else instead. I was glad, glad to be on this board, on this lake which was at this camp. Glad to be Suping!

As I moved closer to the rest of the group I smiled. Maybe I wasn’t so bad at this, maybe I was going to stay dry……maybe I had been a little too confident! My board started to sway. It swayed so hard that I fell to my knees! Could I stay put, or was I going to do what I had been terrified of since I set foot on this board? Terrified of falling.

Later that day…..


Yes, I fell. I had fallen into the freezing cold lake. Coming out drenched and shaky…..but it wasn’t so bad after all!