My experience that I went through was a life changing scenario, for most of you there have been many hardships and tough times that you have had to endure. Anyone that has experienced these hardships will be able to relate to me. Sometimes we as individuals step up to the challenge to conquer and persevere through these hardships. All of us in here have had a time in our life where times have been tough and we wanted to give up or quit. For those of us who overcame these obstacles we can relate to one another; whether it’s because we’ve shared the same kind of experience or because we’ve all had to deal with tough times. This is my story.

            It was half past two as I quickly glanced at the clock on the wall; I noticed my dad walk through the family room and out through our French doors. I always watched my dad when he was working around the house, trying to imitate his actions, but I could never quite impersonate the way he went about things. On the day of this event I didn’t follow him outside, instead I watched as he walked by, slowly trying to coax me off of the couch to come outside with him. I held my ground as he continued on his path. Soon after he left I walked outside and saw the shadow off the crest of my house emerge over my entire body. As I was turning around I saw the smallest bead of sweat running down the slope of my nose and splashing onto the wooden deck where it evaporated immediately; in that same turning motion I looked towards the pool deck where I observed the pool gate left wide open and my dad in the garage. I walked up the pool deck stairs to the main part of the deck and laid down; hanging my head over the edge of the pool. The water was crystal clear with blue and white stripes on the bottom; leading to the misconception that it was shallow. I went in not knowing how to swim; I sank right to the bottom and at that moment nothing was wrong. I felt a sudden rush of serenity as the water surrounded my body; that was until I tried surfacing. Eyes opened and blurred, I looked around the bottom of the pool and saw complete emptiness, I looked above me and saw the same emptiness, and no one was there to help me. At this moment I was completely helpless.