I try to breathe, but I find no air. I only taste the bitterness of the salty sea water. What could be more horrifying then knowing that the air you breathe is no longer there? Not only am I deprived of air, but of land and the ability to see. To think this happened because of my blindness to reality.

It started out as a camping trip with my friends Shawna and Marshel, and my dad and I. We decided many weeks ago where we were going to camp. We chose to stay on a beach along the Pacific Coast next to an unnamed river. The trip was very well planned. In fact, we had enough food, water, and other supplies to last us for weeks! But we wouldn’t live past day three.

We arrive at the beach and camp at a far enough distance from the river. It was beautiful, or at least I thought it was at the time. The ocean was calm, the wind soft, and the sun not quite shining, but it was definitely warm. The next few days were full of fun activities that anyone would do when camping; roasting marshmallows, telling stories, hiking, we did it all! But on the third day, these things grew boring to them and they yearned to break away from the father figure to do something fun. So at around two in the afternoon, my friends and I asked my father for permission to do something new. Without another thought, we were on our way to swim in the river. When we got there, the river seemed quite high because of the constant rain that fell that day, but we didn’t care. The river also appeared a bit murky and the surrounding trees were wet with rain as well. Everything made the day look more gloomy unlike the normal sunny afternoon, but even under these circumstances, not a thing seemed out of the ordinary at all.

Nothing went on for those few moments, though the rain started to fall harder and the wind picked up speed. But just when all was calm, Marshel tossed both, Shawna and I, over his shoulders and threw us into the river’s waters, which were surprisingly warm. Shawna and I surfaced, giggling, then pulling Marshel down into the water with us as we dived.

It seemed to continue that way forever, splashing, dunking, Marshel tossing us into the water, us taking him down with us, like a never-ending game. But our game soon ended. Thunder brought us back to the real world. The wind whipped my hair back behind me as I realized how fast it was blowing and how the water that nearly flooded over the river banks were draining rapidly. I turned to Shawna, her short red hair also being blown back. I could see that she was frightened and she wanted to go back to camp. So we went back to camp, the decision was unanimous! Heading back to camp would have been much more difficult if the water hadn’t receded down to our ankles.