Koopa Troopa's Cabin

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.

Life jacket all strapped on, getting to the last step and I’m in. I feel the rush of the cold water running all over my body like a pack of fire ants attacking their prey. I let go of the ladder and step on the lake floor, slim, allege, little water bugs everywhere, the smell of fresh lake with a hint of fish comes to me. I walk around on the lake floor going deeper as I go, my life jacket starts to kick in and I’m loosing footing as I continue walking into the unknown. I get to a point where there’s a clear line where there’s a drop off, one side is the lake floor the other is a black hole. Pretty soon it’s me and the lake, and I just lay back and enjoy every bit of it. The blue sky with white streams left behind from the passing jets, making lines that cross each other every which way. The waves coming in from boats way out and beyond, gently hitting me and pushing me just inches closer towards shore. Birds sing their song, pine trees blow in the wind, sun beating down hitting my face, blinding me as it always does. I return to the real world and realize I floated back to where I started out, the lake knew it was time to head in. I step over to the silver ladder who spends its days and nights in this clear, cold lake helping those who dare to step in. I get up to the top of the ladder and step onto the dock, where my towel was waiting, to provide some warmth back to me. I wrap my towel around me and start the walk back to our beach house. I am careful not to slip on the rocks that washed up from the lake, and I make it to grass and flat

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

The sweat in my head starts to run down to the corner of my eye and I immediately start thinking of a single thing, the ice cold Frio River, I suggested to my friend that we should start heading towards it so we did. By submerging in the water, my nervous system instantly reacted to the temperature but soon after, relief. At the bottom of the river floor I feel the rocks smoothed out by the water along with the algae and every so often some young fish that thrive there. Along the end of the “section” of the river there’s a little wall where water falls down from to another section, while sitting there I can feel the strong pressure of the water hitting against my chest, consequently, I reach a point of relaxation incomparable to all

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

This lake is one of the many in Arizona. When I was nearly 3 months old I started to go to Arizona with my family and close friends. There we would float in the lake and go on long boat rides. One of my favorite lakes to go to would have to be Pleasant Lake.

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

Slip, crunch, I fell on to my knees braking the crisp surface of the snow, the wind picks up and I gasp after the cold dry air, as the cold bit me like a dog, I get back up towards the endless horizon trying to find our fishing honey hole, the rope eats my thick glove with its many splinters and spurs as we pull the dark blue fish house, all we can hear is the wind hollering like a cat in water, and the hard plastic undercarriage of the fish house sliding across the sparkling snow like a hot knife through butter.

As an adventurous risk-taker and someone willing to undergo any challenge that comes her way, submerging into ice cold shark-infested waters was something that took a great deal of mental preparation. Before I entered the water, I felt nausea rush over me as I put on my wet suit being weighed down by rocks strapped onto my waist. I struggled to push the visions of Jaws and other glorified Hollywood movies out of

As we arrived at the lake we looked for turtles and golf balls, since it had been previously a golf courses. After, we went to go watch the turtles in lake when their heads popped up from the water. Then we decided we would shoot are B.B guns at targets we made in my garage. Then we decided to go around the lake.