A DAY AT THE BEACH

It was a bright and sunny day and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. The waves were roaring with a beautiful cadence that was perfect for sleeping. The sand, hot to the touch, but still appealing to the eye. The shore wasn’t crowded but had a few people here and there. Sisters rested on the sand with matching pink and blue polka dot bikinis.

Nora rolled over and nudged Jane’s leg with her sandy toes. Jane groaned and turned over.

“Come on, Jane. Let's get into the water,” said Nora.

Jane let out a soft chuckle. “We can get started with the water if you want,” she replied. They got up and ran in. Feet that were once dry and crusty were then wet and smooth. Warm bodies were cooled down by the refreshing water. After a few splashes and exchanged giggles, they realized that they were a bit far from the shore.

“Umm Jane,” said Nora nervously.

“Yes,” replied Jane.

“I can’t touch the ground.”

Jane smiled big and said, “Yeah me either.”

Nora’s smile completely disappeared. “No, I really can't touch the ground, Jane,” she said as she started to splash a bit more.

Jane rubbed the water from her face. “So, what’s the problem?” she asked with a confused look.

Nora sunk under the water for a slight second and came back up breathing heavily. “I can’t swim!”

Jane reached out to help her stay afloat. “Are you serious, Nora? You really can’t swim?”

“No,” Nora said after spitting out some water.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Jane said while struggling to keep Nora above the water.

“I didn’t think it would be important or that we would be this far out,” Nora said.

Jane kept trying to push Nora up, but as she was doing so, Nora flailed her arms and legs around in a panic.

“Ow!” Jane said as she got hit. At this point Jane was constantly going underwater and was still trying to keep Nora up. “Nora, I can’t help you if you keep freaking out like this!”

Nora continued to not hear anything that Jane is said, while Jane thought back to an episode of SpongeBob. Specifically, when SpongeBob was trying to help Patrick when he was drowning. She remembers how SpongeBob struggled greatly, just as she was.

“Nora,” she started. “I don’t think I can help you, little sister.” Her eyes were red from both tears and the salty water. “But I can’t just leave you out here either,” she continued. Your mother trusted me with you, and it took so long for us to be together again because of the mistakes Dad made. I am so sorry.

Nora just continued to splash and struggle. “So, what are we going to do?”

Jane looked around at the empty ocean that seemed to have no people for miles. She let out a yell. “Help!” She continued to pushed Nora above the water. She knew she couldn’t return without her sister. If anything, the water would take them both.

Nora joined in. “Help,” she said with a panicked yell.

They both shouted out a few more times and it was then that Jane realized that this wasn’t going to work. She took a deep breath in and let it out and tried to think of a plan. In the midst of her pushing Nora up, her apple watch caught on Nora’s hair.

“Somethings got me!” Nora said with a shout.

With her arm tugging Nora’s hair, Jane realized it was her apple watch.

“Nora! It’s my watch!” she said ecstatically.

Nora sobbed, “I don’t know why you are happy about that. Just please get it out of my hair!”

“Don’t you know what this means?” Jane asked. “Never mind. I just hope that it’s still working.” She let go of Nora for a moment and pressed the side button until the SOS instructions came up. “Oh, thank God!” She activated the alert and the watch started beeping and flashing. “Just a little longer Nora.”

Nora sighed. “Ok, so now we just wait?”

“That’s right,” Jane replied. “I’ll keep you up until someone gets here.”

Within minutes a woman in a red swimsuit on a surfboard appeared. She was like an angel sent from heaven. Where did she come from? There was just no one in site. It was a miracle. She was truly God sent.

“Do you girls need help?” the woman asked. “I got word from the authorities that there was an SOS around this area.”

Jane said with a broken smile, “Yes, that was us! We need help.”

“Well hop on the surfboard and I’ll push you to the shore,” the woman said.

Both Jane and Nora quickly reached out and jumped onto the surfboard. The woman gave some extra help to Nora.

“Let’s do this,” the woman said as she started to paddle.

When they reached the shore, both Jane and Nora crawled onto the sand with their energy depleted. Nora sat up and stared at the ocean. Her mind was racing on what could have happened today. Her and her sister almost died in that water. A new fear started to grow inside of her. Her heart began to beat fast, and her chest began to hurt. Is this what they call anxiety?

Jasmine Gathings is a current student at Full Sail University. Her hobbies, outside of writing, include watching anime, live streaming video games, and working on her social media expansions. Her social media platforms can be reached @princessyomama on Instagram.