Water: A Short Story
I’m standing right at the edge of what it seems like the end. My little toes hug the sides of the edge, begging not to take one more step closer. I stare into the calm blue beast beneath me and it stares right back. I could tell that the beast knew how scared and nervous I was. I cautiously dipped my right foot into the water; big toe first and the rest followed. “There is no way I can do this,” I thought to myself. “The water is not the right temperature, the lifeguard is not going to help me, my feet won’t touch the floor, my hair doesn’t look good when it’s wet.” I stood at the edge, making up all types of excuses a seven-year-old can tell his mom.
Still standing at the edge, my eyes are focused on a group of kids right in the belly of
the blue beast around my age, playing a game that I always wished I could play. One of them yelled, “marco,” while stretching out his arms like a blind zombie. The others replied hysterically, “polo!” I watched my sister walk across the long and narrow diving board right up to the very edge, as she bent her knees the diving board bent with her. She abruptly straightened her knees and hopped up. As she came back down onto the diving board once more, with a smile from ear to ear, she swung her arms up and sprung up into the air much higher this time. She waved her arms in the air as if she wanted to stay afloat in the air. In just a few seconds, the glassy water dispersed into a large frothing white lagoon, as my sister churned in the water. For now, the beast is still laughing at my insecurity.
Still standing at the edge, with my toes nice and comfortable wrapped around the edge, I thought to myself, “Why can’t I do this? All I have to do is jump in.” However, this was more than that. Growing up, I was never afraid to face a new challenge whether it would be in sports, video games, board games, school. Anything you could name I would never back down from it, even for a seven-year-old. This moment was different, the water had hypnotized me; it was my kryptonite.
Although every superhero have their own weakness, they inevitably have to face it one way or another. In my case, I feared what most kids my age wished they could be doing every day. “What type of kid is afraid of water?” I thought to myself. I dipped my left foot into the water as if the left foot would somehow make a difference and give me confidence.
Still standing at the edge, my eyes are focused on a group of kids right in the belly of
the blue beast around my age, playing a game that I always wished I could play. One of them yelled, “marco,” while stretching out his arms like a blind zombie. The others replied hysterically, “polo!” I watched my sister walk across the long and narrow diving board right up to the very edge, as she bent her knees the diving board bent with her. She abruptly straightened her knees and hopped up. As she came back down onto the diving board once more, with a smile from ear to ear, she swung her arms up and sprung up into the air much higher this time. She waved her arms in the air as if she wanted to stay afloat in the air. In just a few seconds, the glassy water dispersed into a large frothing white lagoon, as my sister churned in the water. For now, the beast is still laughing at my insecurity.
Still standing at the edge, with my toes nice and comfortable wrapped around the edge, I thought to myself, “Why can’t I do this? All I have to do is jump in.” However, this was more than that. Growing up, I was never afraid to face a new challenge whether it would be in sports, video games, board games, school. Anything you could name I would never back down from it, even for a seven-year-old. This moment was different, the water had hypnotized me; it was my kryptonite.
Although every superhero have their own weakness, they inevitably have to face it one way or another. In my case, I feared what most kids my age wished they could be doing every day. “What type of kid is afraid of water?” I thought to myself. I dipped my left foot into the water as if the left foot would somehow make a difference and give me confidence.