Blood in the Water




It was a hot summer day with a cool breeze that made you feel alive. Bentley, Lisa, and Jimmy were known in the small town by the beach as inseparable. Mainly because there weren’t many other kids in the town and nobody in such a small town went without notice. Of course on a day like this all three of them were together enjoying the little responsibilities that come with being a kid. Jimmy lived right off the sandy shore of the beach, the biggest attraction in this small town. With this knowledge the kids always met at Jimmy’s and ran down to the beach to enjoy the luxury that the beautiful, mysterious ocean offered.

There was one thing though that always kept the kids on alert. A sign with the one thing that sends a chill down your spine when you dare to swim in the ocean. Shark that one word that could send hundreds frantically sprinting out of the water. The kids assured themselves by the thought that every beach had the sign just for extra precaution and after many years with this idea and no incidents the kids had no problem entering the water. Although today seemed different there was no one at the beach a rare occurrence but the kids didn’t mind. Lisa though had a little more weariness toward the ocean and relished in the idea of having others around preferably an adult at the beach it made her feel a sense of safety. Although after the begging of Jimmy and Bentley she gave in and ran for the water.

It was a great feeling the coolness of the water was perfect on such a hot day, the smooth sand running though their toes as they took a step, and the slight salty taste made it all real. They felt like summer. Jimmy the most daring of the three swam out far from shore till he could only feel the eeriness of the water he didn’t dare look down for scenes from the movie Jaws played in his head. Till he felt sandpaper like skin glide across his leg that’s when he knew his life would never be the same.
Jimmy screamed in complete shock, “Shark!” and with that they all swam as fast as they could. But as Bentley and Lisa were swimming for their lives they noticed the water was filling with red. They turned and Jimmy was gone but they kept swimming till they could feel the hot sand on their feet. Lisa ran to the house to tell Jimmy’s parents and Bentley stayed he was frozen he couldn’t fathom what he was supposed to do. Till without thinking just pure adrenaline he ran back into the water the water seemed as if it was completely filled with blood but he kept swimming till he could see Jimmy. His leg was engulfed in the shark’s mouth and all Bentley could think to do was hit the shark until it let go. Accept it never did. Jimmy was gone, Bentley in shock, and Lisa felt like she just lost a part of herself. On that day the two lost their friend to the great beast within the amazing thing we call the ocean. We use it for self enjoyment, for research, even for our own benefit. But sometimes it takes something from us and this lose just proves we can’t tame the ocean we never will be able to. We just have to learn to accept the risks when we step in to a whole other world the deep, dark ocean.