Water
Tubing
Never again.
Our car pulled up into a broad parking space, and I jumped out in
excitement. Little did I know this was going to be a long and scary day. My
family and I were going out on our first and last water tubing trip.
We waited on line, waiting to pay. As the line slowly moved up, I
saw signs that said things like YOU MAY DROWN. Immediately, I was afraid. “Mom,
are you sure about this?” I asked. I directed her over to the signs. An unsure
expression crossed over her face, but she quickly cleared it up with a smile.
We waited in line for our tickets, then walked over to the entrance.
As we walked, I saw a big pyramid of red, orange, and blue tubes
that towered over me. I was handed a red
tube and a life vest from a tall man, and directed to a woman who spoke to us
about safety. Her boring voice sounded
as if she were reciting the same speech her whole life. She told us that if we ever fell out of our
tube, we were to lift our feet up and hold onto our life vest. She sent us to the bottom of a steep
hill. I dipped my foot in the water and
a shiver went up my spine. It was
FREEZING! I was unsure whether to go in
or not, but I finally placed my red tube in the water, along with my
family. I should have trusted my
instincts and not gone in. I was clueless as to what lay ahead.
There wasn't much of a
current, so I started to paddle. I began to relax and I noticed the beautiful
scenery around me. The clear blue water sparkled in the sun. Trees swayed in the cold, fall wind. Birds chirped a stunning song. It wasn't long before we arrived at the first
set of rapids. I felt the current
starting to pick up speed, and then small waves started to appear. “Hold on!”
my mom yelled. By this time, I was going really fast. The tube floated up and
down. I could feel the wind blowing my hair up. I swerved, avoiding rocks. I
felt like I was flying. Water sprayed my face as I rushed down the broad
stream. The rapid started to end and the water got calmer. The current was
still pushing me forward, so I didn't have to paddle. “Did you have fun?” my
sister asked.
“It was amazing!” I responded. The current started to slow down, so
I started to paddle. A small drop appeared ahead of me. My tube slid off and
water splashed my face. The current started to pick up again and I knew another
rapid was coming. Unfortunately, these rapids were a little different. As soon
as I could see the waves, I realized that they were HUGE!!!!! My mom screamed,
“HOLD ON!” She sounded really nervous. I went over the first big wave, but the
second one was even bigger. As it came toward me, I was really nervous. I knew
I couldn't make it over the wave; I knew what would happen next. The wave
applied so much force to me that I couldn't get over it. It flipped me
backwards on my head. “EMILY!” I heard a distant scream. I was stuck
underwater, unable to breathe. I finally came up, gasping for air, just to have
another wave push me under. My ankle crashed against a rock and my legs became
numb with coldness.
Then, I remembered what the lady had said. I held onto my life vest
and lifted my feet up. I floated over the waves. I felt my mom's strong arms
pull me into her tube. “ARE YOU OKAY?” my mom asked. My teeth were chattering
and I was shivering. I just wanted to leave. I wanted to get out of there. My
heart was beating out of my chest.
I started to paddle as fast as I could. I wanted to get that third
rapid done with as soon as possible. It took a while to get to that last rapid,
but when it finally came, even before I saw the waves, I was scared. I didn't want to go through with it. But when I saw the waves, I relaxed a little. These
were small, slow, mellow waves. I went through quickly and then finally reached
the end. I pulled the tube out of the water and hurried to shore.
Never again.
