From Sea to Sand

THE COLD AIR bit my skin.

I broke through the shield of sea water, gasping for air and tasted salt on my lips. I felt my stomach turn. How long had I been in the water, getting further and further away from the shore? My hands stretched out, my fingers longing to get a hold of the floating piece of wood in front of me. The tips of my fingers missed the wood by a centimeter, and I kicked my legs, trying to get closer. Salty sea water sprayed caroused my face as soon as my hand slapped the piece of wood, grabbing it and pulling it closer to me.

The last thing I heard before I slipped underneath the waves of water was the distant shouts that came from our boat. The Wellington, we called it. The family name.

Our boat engine had stopped working during our summer ride on the water, but I wasn't interested enough to find out why. I let my dad and uncle's voices drift into background noise and made my way to the railing to watch the sun go down. The splotches of yellow, orange, and pink covered the sky and slowly faded into a darker indigo when the waves got rough. The Wellington rocks back and forth, reminding me of the amusement park ride with the large boat that swung forward and backward, earning dozens of thrilled screams from its riders. The sickly, stomach churning feeling I got when sitting at the top of the boat ride was the same feeling I got when I gripped the railing for my life when a large wave crashed into us. Water had washed over everything, making each and every surface so slippery that when the next, larger and more daunting wave had collided with us, my body was thrown straight into the darkness. I heard the cacophony of jumbled screams, all of different pitches, coming from The Wellington as my family realized I had been thrown overboard. I saw blurry, pixelated, images of screaming faces as the furious waves carried me further and further away from my family and The Wellington, so fast that they lost sight of me before they could jump in the water to go after me.

Now, the waves were slightly calmer and the sea looked less threatening with sunlight sparkling along the water. Yet, when the clouds migrated over to the sun, the shade that was created made the water a darkish blue that was almost close to black. I wouldn't be able to see anything that was inside the water, so when my hands would dive into the black, I wouldn't able to shake the feeling that they were cut off.

That was the problem with being lost in an unfamiliar environment away from the ones you love. You wouldn't be able to think straight. Your mind would race from thought to thought, not staying at one long enough to actually comprehend it before moving to the next one. I closed my eyes tightly for a second, taking a deep breath and repressing the gag that I felt surfacing when the salty mist of water entered my nose. I had to focus on one thing. Shore. I had to get to shore...some are of land...away from this godawful water.

I clung to the slim piece of wood although it didn't help much. The waves would still swing me side to side, and I still bobbed up and down so much that the nausea I was feeling only continued to get worse. I squinted, trying to see past the sheen of sunlight, at a brown, paint splatter looking image that became slowly visible in front of me. But it looked so, so far away.

Everything inside of me told me to move forward, but I wouldn't. I couldn't. My legs wouldn't work and my arms wouldn't work. Nothing would work. It was like the screws in my limbs were loose and needed tightening. But there are no wrenches at sea. There is nothing at sea except for this damn water.

As more clouds covered the sun, more of the water started to churn. Goosebumps overpopulated my skin and wet, salty hair was matted against my face. I felt water begin to hit and splatter me and suddenly I was being pushed forward. Air was being knocked out from inside of me as waves slammed against my back. I grunted, my body driving through the water, the ridged edges of the piece of wood digging into the skin of my arms.

Suddenly, I felt something warm inside of me when I saw the brown streak of color appearing to be getting closer. I looked up, yearning for the heat, the sunlight, to touch my face. The clouds began to part ways with the sun, almost like they had heard my pleas. Warmth hugged my face, enveloping it so that I couldn't feel the cold anymore. I didn't need a screwdriver. I had enough inside of me to tighten these bolts by myself so that I would hold, at least until I got to that strip of land.

I stopped resisting the water and gave into the waves, letting them carry me to the land. I moved my arms, moving with the water instead out pushing against it. I thought of swimming lessons with my cousins. I remembered how they would cheer me on when I would swim using the butterfly stroke, and how they would tell me about the times I would still doggy paddle in the water. The water wrapped around me as I moved in unison with the waves.

I don't remember when I closed my eyes but when I opened them I was looking up at the night sky. My skin was touching grainy sand that was nowhere near as warm as I imagined it. I blinked, taking in the black in the sky that was only interrupted by the appearance of glowing beads that were tossed onto it. The sparkling of the stars only stood out more against the dark background and they seemed to hypnotize me. I couldn't look away, I couldn't think, I couldn't worry. The fears I had of sharks and other sea creatures back in the water, had left. The worry that I would never get back to my family dimmed down for just a few moments. Just a few seconds. Just long enough for me to enjoy the calm that came after the storm. Long enough for me to drink in the endless night sky above me, with its shining freckles staring back at me.

Here, on this sand, on my back and staring up at the night sky...the cold air kissed my skin.