In a Blink of an Eye

            With the sun’s rays softly caressing my cheeks, and the feel of the warm soft sand beneath my toes, the smell of ancient infinity from the ocean filled my nostrils. The air is salt, the wind and surface of everything here is salt at Puerto Peñasco. After walking with my family, we finally found a spot in the center of the beach upon a miniature hill. With the grill, the blue tarp, the table, and the volleyball net set up, it was time to hit the water. A while after swimming, it was time to head back.

            Noticing that my parents were preoccupied, along with the rest of my family, I decided to head back on my own, back to the grey-sheet of water stretching across the horizon. After settling on going knee deep, I sat down in the water and played with the seashells I had found along the way. All of a sudden a big wave hit the shore, taking me along with it. Which probably should have been my warning to head back closer to shore, but still I stayed.

            From then on the waves kept getting stronger and faster, like the hands of the sea were pounding on the seashore, pushing and pulling me along with them.  Just then, my foot got caught on seaweed that had been below a rock, trapping me in like a bear in a steel leg trap. I howled from the pain inflicted on my ankle, but had no time to remove the rock because just like before wave after wave began to come stronger and faster. With the fast waves coming in, it gave me no time to catch my breath. One after another, they came and came, until I felt dizzy. Looking up at my family they whopped and hollered upon the tall far away hill, hoping that one would look my direction and come to my rescue. Alas, that didn’t happen.

            The realization that I may die began to sink in when, what felt like an eternity of continuous waves crashing and the taste of brine water in my mouth beginning to choke me. Before slipping into unconsciousness, the feel of arms around my waist pulled me out of the terror filled roaring water, away from the sharp teeth of the ocean. My savior was my cousin who went in search for me when he realized I was gone. When I was finally on the shore, I coughed up a storm, releasing water until I felt like I could breathe again.

           Isn’t it funny how in a blink of an eye one can think of many possibilities that could have prevented an incident from happening? That’s what I thought as my cousins took me up the surprisingly narrow hill, to my waiting family. After that incident I learned to never leave without my parents’ consent.