Rafts

The first day of school is like being thrown into an ocean. You can either go in with a boat, or hope you can swim.

In my previous years, I’ve started with a handmade raft, made out of driftwood and vines. (Swimming comes easy to me, so I’m not too worried.) It works for a while, and I can lay back and enjoy the sun, but if I don’t maintain it, eventually the ropes get weaker and the wood cracks until finally I’m dumped into the water with nothing under me. The initial sink sends water into my nose, and I’m so shocked that I forget how easy swimming is, and I begin to panic. If I could just get a breath, if I could just get my head above water, I could reorient myself and find my raft, but the waves are bigger now, and though I try to push against them they crash against me and send me spinning. Eventually I give up on swimming and just try to float on my back, and it’s just enough that I don’t drown, but there’s still water up my nose and salt in my eyes.

Floating there, I see boats and jetskis zoom by, and wonder why I couldn’t be them. Surely if I just tried a little harder, I could build an engine and be skipping along the waves. Looking down, I see people sinking with seaweed wrapped around their legs, and I’m both grateful I’m not that far down and jealous of them, because people with snorkels are diving down to grab their arms and no one seems to notice me just floating, occasionally coughing water out of my lungs.

(It’s not that big of a deal. I could ask for help, but I won’t. It’s not like I’m drowning now.)

Standing on the sand this August, I swore this year will be different. The water is calm, my raft is made with tar instead of vines, and I’m raising a nautical flag on my driftwood mast. I still don’t know how it will go- some part of me is whispering that the waves will come back and turn my vessel back into the logs they were made with, but I can believe that I will make it work this time. I have to.

_{Thanks for reading!}

_{This was originally an assignment for English that I liked enough to post :-)}