A Salty Taste Of Fear

• Jamilah Kariippanon, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2019

“Kraaa kraaa”, the seagulls come down towards the little shack by the beach waiting for the old man who feeds them. I looked at the ocean, the foam looked extra white today like it's saying a big hello to summer. The path ends and the hot sand burns my feet. Maybe I should have brought my thongs, I thought. We dumped our stuff onto the white sand and set out our towels. “Come on”, my brother shouted with eagerness in his voice. So I follow him into the clear blue water. “Ahhhhh”, I shrieked. The water is even cooler then I expected. We kept swimming further and further out. “Are you sure we should go out this far? There are no lifesavers out their and Mamma and Papa are on the beach, not in the water?” I asked my brother. “ We’ll be fine,” he said. “Hey let's catch this wave,” I said so that we might be able to get closer to the shore. We got ready to catch the wave. I took a breath for a big wave. It hit me and I moved only about an inch forward.
“Weird. Let's try again” he said with as a hint of fear on his face. When we missed the next five waves we started to panic but we both pretended nothing unusual was happening. After a few minutes of horrible silence, my brother said with a terrified voice, “I think we are moving away from the shore” said my brother, only 13 months older than me. I didn’t reply because I would have burst into tears and never stop. I looked at my parents, sitting up on the sand. They started to make hand signals. I try to reply but my hands were numb with fear. My brother saw what I tried to do and started waving madly. “Look”, my brother shouted with excitement in his voice as my parents started running into the water. Yes! we might get out of here I thought. A rush of excitement flowed through my body.
“You guys alright?” We all looked up to face a man about 40 years old. He was the surfer who was looking at us. “Yes um no no not really we got stuck in a rip and can’t get out” my mother replied. “Okay don’t panic. One of the boys here has a life-saving board. I’ll grab some more people to get the rest of you guys out. Hang tight”, said the surfer. My heart was thudding so hard I thought it was going to burst out of my chest. My legs were so tired from treading water that I started to cry. Tears came pouring out. The lifesaver came soon and I clambered onto his board. Back up on the beach, I looked out onto the waves, I will forever remember the ocean can be a dangerous place and I will always respect it!