“No Swimming”

“Sorry kids, the beach is closed today. A shark was sighted right off shore only a half-hour ago,” A guy wearing a lifeguard bathing suit and t-shirt said as the group of friends pulled into the parking lot of the beach.

It was 95 degrees outside on Nantucket in the middle of July. All five of the kids had packed their surf gear and hopped into a topless jeep. The waves were supposed to be great, so without listening to the lifeguard, they pulled out of the parking lot and drove a half-mile down the street to their secret entrance to the beach. 

After hauling all of their things down a narrow path filled with pointy twigs and branches, they made it to the water. The teal waves crashed down hard on the soft, warm sand of the beach. 

“Come on guys, this is why I told you to put on your wetsuit before we came,” Yelled Katie who was already in the waves with her board.

“Ok, ok, you were right, we will be right there,” Oakley yelled back. 

Oakey and Grayson were rushing to get their wet suits on while Natalie and Bridget laid out their towels to tan for a while before they went in. 

The boys were finally geared up so they paddled out to where Katie was. Their hands glided through the cyan water with power. Waves towered over them, forcing them to dive under so they wouldn’t get crushed. When the wave came, the race to catch it began. Paddle hard, get a push from the current, stand up, and do everything you can to stay up. 

Natalie and Bridget started to put on their gear so they could join them. They finally joined the rest of the crew out where the waves were in the biggest form. The adrenaline of struggling to catch the waves then having a joy ride when they ride to shore is what kept them out there in the water for hours. 

Finally, they decided maybe it was time to get out and dry off to go get some lunch. Everyone thought this would be a good Idea except Katie of course. She lived for the water. She loved everything from the sand and waves, all the way to the unknown creatures beneath the water.

“Hold on guys, I’m just going to catch a couple more, I packed sandwiches in the cooler, save me one!” Katie yelled and the rest of them guided their boards back to the shore. 

Alone, Katie paddled her bright blue board that almost matched the sea, not as far this time knowing she was at a higher risk of danger being alone. The waves tapped against her board while she sat in the serenity on the sea. She was in the right spot so she wouldn’t have to worry about getting crushed by waves. She laid on her board, eyes closed, taking in the scent of the ocean, and feeling the breeze off the waves. She could feel her luscious blonde hair being soaked by the saltwater.

Suddenly, something made a splash nearby. Katie didn’t think anything of it and closed her eyes again hoping whatever it is will swim away. 

“Katie, Katie! Next to you! Come back in! Ah- Kati- SHARKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!” They screamed from the shore.

The faint sound of the words made Katie perk up. Goosebumps covered her body from head to toe. Her vision blurred out and she could only see the splash of the water. More screams filled her head, making her more and more anxious. 

Then out of the side of her eye, she saw it. Only a couple of feet away, a dark figure filled the ocean below her. A grey fin stuck out of the water moving quickly towards her. Shaking hard, she used all of her energy and laid back down on her stomach, and started to paddle to shore. 

In a blink of an eye, she was sliding right off her board and was being dragged deeper and deeper underwater. It was dark and her breath was almost gone. 

“I’m going to die,” Katie thought while she was struggling to hold her breath underwater.

The shark wiped her around until it finally let go. 

She could feel a horribly sharp pain coming from her foot, but she wasn’t able to look back, she had to get on her board and get back to shore immediately. She was finally able to wiggle herself back on to what was left of her board. A huge bite was taken right from her board. By now Oakley was already paddling out to help her. She took a deep breath and looked back to see the sharks swimming in the opposite direction of her.

Katie was able to make it to Oakley before she passed out right on her board. That’s when Oakley looked back in the direction of the shark and noticed it made a sharp turn around and now was coming towards their direction. Panicking Oakley untied the board’s leash from Katies’ bloody ankle and tied it on his so he could drag Katie behind him. 

He began paddling harder than he ever had before. He kept looking back to see where the shark was and to check if Katie was still there. Paddling and paddling the shark was getting closer and closer. When the shark was right next to them, Oakley’s heart froze, and the shark launched itself out of the water hoping to catch Oakley and Katie. Instead, it missed them by a few feet and caused a huge splash making the water fuzzy so it wasn’t able to see Oakley paddle away and reach the shore. 

Oakley made it to the shore where the rest of their friends had already called 911. The paramedics took Katie off the board and placed her on a stretcher so they could take her in the ambulance to the hospital. 

“Ok come on, let's get our stuff and meet her at the hospital,” Bridget said, already packing up all of their stuff. 

When all of the friends finally made it to the Hospital to see Katie, she was awake but was still drowsy from pain medications. Her foot was all bandaged up but it was still there.

“She’s going to be ok,” explained the doctor standing above her with a clipboard “We just need to keep her overnight to make sure there are no other complications.”

“Thank you so much, doctor!” Bridget said happily that Katie was ok.

“Hey, guys! Thank you, Oakley, you saved my life!” Katie said in a low muffled voice still waking up.

“Of course Katie, we have to make sure you are all healed up so we can get back out there soon,” Oakley said.

“Oh no no no, I will not be going surfing again for a long time,” Katie answered which made them all start laughing.