Family on 9th Lane : “A DANCE WITH DEATH”

I still wake up in the middle of the night, covered in sweat and experiencing a sensation akin to drowning, gasping for breath. This tale is not for the weak-hearted, but for those who have experienced almost drowning themselves, and can stomach the descriptions of hovering on the threshold of death’s doorstep.

The summer before I turned 13, my family unanimously decided to take a vacation in the midst of nature’s elements. So, persuaded by the rest of us, my father determined the ideal location would be a beach, and booked us a resort on Miami beach. Till that terrifying experience, the beach was always one of my favourite places to kill time. Naturally, I was the one who was mostly outdoors. In a spurt of recklessness, bravado and uncertainty, I signed up for surfing lessons, knowing nothing about it.

The next day, the instructor, a short, balding man,took me down to the beach with my very own board; I could barely keep the excitement from being too evident on my face. He demonstrated a few times, and I was able to mimic him perfectly. He checked on my final measurements and cheerfully told me to go catch some waves. At the last minute, my mom came up to me and insisted that I wear a life-jacket and carry a waterproof safety first-aid kit with me. I thought she was fussing over something ordinary, completely unaware that that life-jacket was my ticket to a new life and my saviour.

For some reason or another, no-one informed us that the Miami beach was famous for being plagued with Orca whales. That is exactly what happened to an unfortunate first-timer like me. I had gone quite far off to sea and that’s when I met my first,(and hopefully last)whale. A 540-pound, gigantic, terrifying sea monster literally flew at me in the middle of the crest wave. All I remember is gazing into the incessant, gaping maw with foot-long, razor sharp skewer-like teeth before it crashed into me, and my world took a 360 degrees turn with me flying off into the horizon.

I crashed into the sea fifty feet from where I flew, and I immediately registered a blinding pain on the side of my left thigh as if someone had stabbed me. I was totally waterlogged and felt salt lodged in every pore of my being. That took a toll on my processing unit; I was unable to comprehend what actually happened, and for the moment the only realisation that had hit me was that I was seperated from my board and that I was going to die.

It was as if everything was in slow motion; I was unable to resurface and the whale drawn by the scent of the blood gushing from my leg, was lunging towards me, scrabbling about wildly for life, death in tow. Now, I maintain to this day that it was the life-jacket I had grudgingly adorned, that saved my life. As I jerked about from pain and fear, the life-jacket suddenly remembered its role and rocketed to the surface of the water, dragging me along. That was my glorious escape from death:dodging it with a life-jacket.

By sheer luck and chance, I had fallen next to an outcropping of a reef above sea-level. Seeing the jagged stump I reached out and grabbed the rock,not letting go until I had hoisted myself completely above the rock. In utter agony, in immediate of passing out completely, I was miraculously able to pull a flare from the waterproof safety kit and fire one in the air. Then drained from exhaustion and blood loss I slumped against the rock and awaited help.

The rest of the story is quite hazy from that point onwards. I remember a speedboat racing towards me, unfamiliar faces gasping, shocked voices and the warm sensation of fresh blood constantly oozing out of my leg. The rescuers hauled me onboard and I felt a sharp prick in my shoulder after which everything comfortably black.

I woke up in a warm, comfortable bed with bright lights all around me. A constant nagging and numbed pain in my side informed me that my lungs were being emptied of the salty water. My left leg was heavily bound and I knew from instinct, it had been stitched, and both my hands were wrapped, with the slight scarlet of blood visible at the edge of the bandage. Regaining my focus, I saw my family sitting around me, silent and with grave faces. Despite my critical condition, I smiled,and a sense of euphoria filled me as I realised my predicament: I had prevailed through an awful ordeal and survived, safe and alive. I was rescued.

_Signed: The Girl with Glasses