Koopa Troopa's Cabin

Suddenly, in the middle of all that sulking and whining and complaining, I found myself in a wetsuit and oversized life jacket, glaring at the side of a roaring river, scowling at the wispy trees that seemed to be waving goodbye while they whispered about my tragic, inevitable death. I barely caught the tail-end of his speech as the guide droned on about, “--and that is how you lift someone out of the water using

Thoughts of drowning run rampant in every man’s mind on that boat. At dawn, the men decided that their only chance is to row toward the distant shore again and swim when the boat finally capsizes.

Upon stepping in the boat, they handed us blue ponchos. The floor was metal, with thin, almond-shaped bumps on them, forming many little crosses. There were some rooms where you could watch through the windows and not get wet. Thinking that was pretty boring, I chose staying outside, where blue chairs lined the walls of the rooms inside. I chose a seat on the starboard side, quite close to the metal railings that bordered the walls of the boat. My little sister sat next to me, her smiling face bursting with excitement. I felt a little jerk, and the boat started moving and the thundering falls grew closer. Though I was warned not to stand up, I got excited and rushed out of my seat, eager to see the falls. My hands grabbed the railings as I watched the roaring waters go around in a horseshoe shape. After a while. the sky darkened, lightning flashed, thunder boomed, winds whipped up, and it started pouring. I started to regret staying outside and started slowly making my back to my seat. The boat lurched to the starboard side, and I slid back to the railing. My sister, the only other person nearby, screamed as she jerked forward, her seatbelt stopping her from flying into the water. I slowly got up but the boat lurched to the other side and I went flying forward, my head hitting a chair. Clutching my head, my vision dimmed and I went flying towards the railing again. Horrified, I suddenly realized that I missed the metal bar entirely and was actually hurtling towards the water. On impact, my body instinctively curled into a ball. I fought to reach the surface, but the water from the falls was pushing me down. When my head last broke the surface, I saw many more people in the place where I fell out. They were probably the people from the inside, who saw me tumbling out of the boat. The freezing water made it hard to think and hard to move. After around what I thought was

3,2, 1 I jump, falling my stomach hangs above my head as I hold my breath. The warm blue surrounds my skin as i resurface. Once we returned, the bright sun slowly burns to form a falling ball of fire into the horizon, and the sky is no longer filled in with blue but dull and grey. The air turned cold and windy. The weather didn't seem to phase any of us. The lifejackets were the next stop. Waves curve over the orange sides of the IRB. Turning fast, we ride parallel across the edge of the waves, spinning around. The strong smell of fish and chips help us say goodbye to the beautiful sea and we sit and talk until day disappears into night. We spent more time spent being wet than dry that summer. The sun now drifting further and further down, eventually being swallowed by the horizon and gone until the summer next

It was an annual tradition for my dad’s side of the family to get together at this campground over Fourth-of-July weekend. All of the cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and even some friends would be there. I was only eleven and it was a special year because I got to bring my friend Rachelle with me on this trip. We planned on swimming in the lake, tubing behind the boat, fishing, and playing yard games like bean bags and ladder-ball. Tubing was my favorite. There was no better feeling than the rush of falling off and bouncing across the water like a skipping stone.

Up in the wide open spaces of nature my brother, mother, father and I would hike, bike, ski, sled, and tube. Depending on the season there would be a new adventure to pursue. During the summer months, my favorite activity was tubing down the San Juan river that cuts and carves through the town. One certain summer my cousins came to visit. With them came their children, Meredith and Aaron. I was the baby of the kids by only being six at the time but I still loved hanging out with my vastly older cousins and

The hike into camp from the parking lot is amazing, and the first glimpse of the lake that

As I am thrown from my raft into the rapids, I come to grips with reality. This is a situation I no longer have control in, as Mother Nature has wrapped her arms around me. My thoughts run rampant through my head, “Will I be alive three minutes from now?”.

The first thing we did was go canoeing. We went canoeing almost everywhere. Sometimes I would get up early in the morning just to canoe around the island. I would mostly go canoeing by myself. I would sometimes jump off the canoe and start snorkeling.

We all woke up that morning early so we could get all packed and ready to go. We had to take two separate cars because of how many people we had to take. The car ride was eccentric and ready to jump out of the car and into the lake at any moment. Finally both of the cars made it to the destination, my parents and my friends parents both rented all of the things we could use for today. Throughout the whole day we used the water bikes, kayaks and paddleboards for how

I am sitting on an inflatable tube in the middle of Lake Michigan. I’m not sure how I got here. Suddenly, I hear “Lean back!”; I’m not sure why, but I just lean back. I’m so scared, I don’t know what is happening. I see a big white boat with blue dual canvas start to go fast, and I feel a jerk. I don’t know what’s happening! Is the tube sinking? Am I going to drown? What is happening? The boat is now going fast, and I’m told I can sit up now. I am kneeling on the tube for five seconds, and I say “OH MY GOSH! This is so fun!!!”. I can’t believe that I have never done this before. I was being pulled so fast that the wind dried my face from the splashing fishy water. There is a wave and my knees fly almost a foot off of the tube! This is the

Our refreshing day at the lake was now a day of oppressing heat. Despite the more than warm weather, I had not exercised at all that day. In an attempt to get in a little of the daily exercise recommended by my soccer coach, I swam to the neighboring buoy. The buoy was about 50 feet away from the boat dock. The swim was not far, but it was far enough to make me breathe hard. It also made Katrina, Madison, Lauren, and Olivia, who had followed, breathe hard. Behind them, closing in on the buoy, were my mom and two younger brothers slowly paddling on their floats. About 6 feet from our destination we drifted upon a shoal. The shoal was rocky, muddy, and algae-ridden. When the filthy red and green mixture of algae and mud squished between my toes I cringed and refused to lower my legs

We started the day with an uplifting hour of parasailing. My mom and I were strapped in a double harness facing backwards on the back of a moving speedboat – quite frightening! Then, in a matter of moments, we were off and up in the sky. Surprisingly, it was very peaceful. As I looked down, I could see the rocks because the water was so clear. The air was so still that I could use my regular voice to speak with my mom. After the parasailing, we strolled to the beach. My friends and I swam out to the splash area with water slides. We also took cool pictures in the crystal clear water with an underwater camera. After an eventful day at Castaway Cay, we headed back to the ship to dress for the show and

But some of my favorite memories of that place was at the small lake that was right across the street from our house. I remembered doing tons of fishing. I caught crappie, cat fish, and even blue guil out of there. So surprisingly that little lake was actually a pretty good fishing spot.

The day was festive. Up until, a third of the way across the bridge, I stopped to gaze at the blue sky, and then down at the water. Right after, a sudden impulse to jump overcame me. I grabbed the rail paralyzed with fear.