The Worst Summer Ever

• Casey Behrmann, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2023

I stepped out of the car, sand filling the gaps in between my toes. I stared out into the expressionless ocean, watching the waves send ripples out into the water. This is the worst summer ever, I thought to myself. Nobody else was here. The water was desolate. It was silent, all you could hear was the whistling of the wind. I took a deep breath, picked up my bag and traced my family's footsteps, to the place where they were setting up our equipment. It was such a relief that mum brought sales as the heat was killing me! I plopped myself lazily down onto one of the beach chairs and watched my younger cousins and siblings dig for shells and build sand castles. I could be sleeping at home right now watching movies and eating popcorn, air conditioning on and no disruptions, however, I’m stuck at the beach with my monotonous family, being splashed by water and sand. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine myself in the cooling air conditioned house with a pile of snacks next to me. It was no use. Every time I tried to take a nap, either a small hand grabbed me and jerked me towards the ocean or little specks of water drizzled over me. Infuriated, I got up, took my things and trudged over to the stairs, squashing the sand castles that my siblings and cousins had built. Behind me, I could hear the yelling and whaling of my cousins and the stamping feet of my siblings. I planted myself in my chair once again, set up my umbrella over my head and took a big, refreshing sip of effervescent lemonade. This was much much better than being with my family. I closed my eyes. Sure enough, my family came running over, kicking sand in my eyes as they adjusted to the sunlight. My family had taken their equipment and came over to where I was. This was the worst. Every time I tried to move, my family followed me. It was like I was a mouse being chased by a ravenous herd of cats. I couldn’t take it anymore. I turned around and looked each of my family members in the eye, giving them a look of indignation and abhorrence. My whole body was filled with exasperation. My family saw this look and knew what it meant. Immediately, they moved away from me and went back to whatever they were doing. I could FINALLY relax. I sat back in my beach chair, under the cool shade and closed my eyes once again. For 10 minutes, nobody disturbed me. I felt the feeling of calmness and sleepiness, however, I knew that this feeling was too good to be true and sure enough, I was right. A few minutes later, I was being dragged. TOWARDS THE OCEAN. I tried to pull back, however, it was too late. I had been dragged into the water. This was the WORST. SUMMER. EVER.