Drifting At Sea

My typical morning always started early on the beach. Luckily, there was a beach located

very near to my house. The beach was peaceful, quiet, and relaxing. My favorite thing to do was

sit in my inflatable tube and just let the waves carry me. This day in particular, was a beautiful

day. The sun peeked over the horizon, surrounded by bright colors of orange, pink, and blue.

This was my favorite part of the day. I was able to relax and not think about the stress I was

experiencing at work. This day, in particular, had a cold breeze that brushed my hair across my

face. My wet swimsuit clung to my body and gave me goosebumps all over my body. I sat back

in my tube as the waves slowly pushed me deeper into the sea. I didn’t think much of it, I always

came back to shore eventually. I closed my eyes and let the waves rock me to sleep.

Hours later, I jerked awake. ​What had I done?​ As I slowly analyzed my surroundings, I

realized that I could no longer see the beach. ​How long had I been asleep? Where was I?​ I cursed

under my breath and started to panic. I trembled with fear and anxiety. Remembering to breathe

again, I slowly analyzed the situation. I wondered if I could somehow paddle myself towards the

beach, however, I soon realized I had no clue which direction the beach was.

I started to scream, “Help! Someone help me!”

I repeated this mantra for what felt like forever. My voice slowly started to grow silent as

I realized that this wasn’t going to help. My face began to burn from the exposure of the sun. The

sun seemed to seep into my skin and spread fire across my body. I was never the greatest

swimmer. I knew that even if I could spot the beach, I wouldn’t be able to swim myself to shore.
 As the day continued, the sun beat down harder and the waves picked up speed. My arms

felt like jelly from hanging onto the tube for dear life. My legs were drained from my endless

kicking. Salt water covered my face and went up my nose.

The rolling waves continually crashed down on me as I was pushed deeper into the vast

sea. By this time, I had inhaled lungfuls of salt water. The churning in my stomach matched in

rhythm to the endless rocking of the water. I was hopeless. I knew that I was going to die. The

cold water pushed against my sunburned legs. My stomach won the battle against the waves and

I began throwing up everything that was left in me. I was dehydrated and exhausted. My skin

peeled off of my arms. I was soaked from head to toe but felt dry at the same time. I laid flat on

this squishy plastic with my hair dipping into the water. By this time, my skin had started to

develop large blisters on my forehead. The water would relieve some of the burning, but it would

quickly dry within minutes.

I had made the decision to give up. After looking across the horizon, there was no one to

be found. I reflected back on my life. ​Was I ready to die? Had I accomplished everything that I

wanted to? ​I couldn’t stop thinking about my mother. Every night, the two of us would talk on

the phone for at least an hour. I knew that if I never came back, she would be sick with worry.

Why couldn’t it just end already?​ My throat burned from crying tears of despair. ​Would my

family ever know what happened to me?​ I prayed that they would know I loved them. I couldn’t

help but think of the goals and dreams I had for the future. I had always wanted to become a

mother. I knew that if I died from this experience, I would never get to fulfill my dreams.

I was exhausted to say the least. I didn’t want to sit for hours on the water waiting for my

death. I wanted to get it over with. I couldn’t think of any more options. The worst way I could
think of to end my life was drowning. I didn’t want to have that be my last experience on earth.

Because I was so exhausted, I decided that I would try to sleep. Hopefully before I would wake

up, this would all be over. Before I fell asleep, my life somewhat flashed before my eyes. I

thought of my childhood and the amazing experiences I had. I found it interesting that the place I

loved the most, the beach, would be the place where I died. My eyes grew more tired. Finally

after hours of exertion, I fell asleep.

I no longer felt the water underneath me. I could feel the waves push against me, but I

wasn’t going anywhere. I slowly opened my eyes. The light was so bright that it took me several

times to fully see what was around me. All I could see was sand. Miles and miles of sand was

spread across the beach. I was shocked. How could I have possibly made it here? I slowly

crawled out of my tube and onto the sand. I was so grateful that I was still alive. I had no clue

how much time had passed since the last time I was awake. I gazed back at the water. I could tell

that sunset was near and I knew I did not have much time left. If it was dark, I had no way of

finding someone to help me. I decided that I needed to stand up and start looking for a way to get

help. I tried to stand but quickly fell back onto my knees. My legs were sore from kicking

endlessly. Finally after several attempts, I was able to stand and keep my feet firmly planted in

the sand.

In the distance, I saw a line of large trees. They didn’t seem like they were very far away.

If I was lucky, there might be some way that I could get help past the trees. I could tell that this

was a very isolated beach as there were no footprints in the sand. I knew that no one could help

me here. After several minutes of slowly walking on the sand, I reached the patch of trees. The

ground started to turn to soil and hard rocks. The trees covered me from the sun which soothed
my burning skin. Moss and sharp rocks covered the ground. I was barefoot. I did my best to step

over rocks but they soon cut into my skin and produced a searing pain. I walked and walked with

no end in sight. After what seemed like hours, I heard the sound of a car passing by. I knew that I

had to be near a road. I started to run. I didn’t care if I broke my foot or stepped on a sharp rock.

There was an end in sight. I soon found the road that I heard. I ran out of the forest of trees and

up a small grassy hill. I walked onto the rocky pavement and breathed a sigh of relief. I started to

wave my arms over my head to try and get the attention of a car passing by. Luckily, a blue truck

quickly pulled over on the side of the road.

A man rolled down his window and asked, “Are you okay? Do you need some help?”

I responded, “Yes, I really need to use a phone to call my mom. Do you happen to know

where we are?”

He answered, “You are welcome to use my phone. We are in the small town of Redacre.

Once you get a hold of your mom, I can help her with directions.”

With a smile on my face I answered, “Thank you so much. You don’t understand what I

have been through today.”

Because of a thoughtful stranger, I was able to get in contact with my mom. She was

extremely worried as she should be. She quickly jumped in the car and came to meet me. I didn’t

know it at the time, but I was only about thirty minutes away from the beach that I left. My mom

eventually reached me and we both hugged each other with fervor. As we drove home, we

couldn’t stop crying as I told the story of what happened. It was truly a miracle. A couple hours

earlier, I was sure that I was going to die. Now, I was inside a warm car with my mom that I

thought I would never see again. I had never felt so much gratitude that I did at that moment. My
mom took me home and quickly bandaged my feet. By the time we got home, it was already nine

o’clock at night. I was so exhausted and just needed to sleep in my comfortable bed. We set an

appointment at the doctor for the next day. As I laid in my bed looking at the ceiling, I cried tears

of joy that couldn’t be stopped. I felt at peace and quickly let the darkness overtake me.

Word Count: 1564