Have you ever had your toe bitten off by a snapping turtle? Yeah, me neither. But, my family does own a cabin on a lake, so it could have happened. The cabin is on lake; therefore my family goes swimming a lot. A lot of wonderful memories have taken place there. On the contrary, some of the memories aren’t so sweet. The tale that is about to unfold is one of those times.

My chest expanded as oxygen filled my chest. I squeezed my eyelids shut. My toes squirmed on the ragged wood of the dock. Finally, plunging into the lake, the cool water hit me like a slap. My head emerged from the surface of the water as my legs stopped kicking.

I giggled as I shouted, “Hey Mom, did you see that?” Her head rose from the lawn chair she was in.

“Yes,” she shouted back. Highly satisfied, I swam off toward our water trampoline. We had just bought it. As I bumped against it, I looked up the inflatable round part, to see the trampoline suspended in the middle. The rough fabric scraped against my legs as my arms pulled me on. I waved to my twin brother who was already on the trampoline. I rolled onto my belly and peered through the black nylon. The water glistened and twinkled through the fabric. As a result, an idea sprang into my head.

I called to my brother, “Lucas, I have an idea. Let’s swim under so we are under the trampoline.” His face instantly lit up and he nodded his head vigorously. The water splashed as we both got in. My skin instantly raised in goose bumps. The smooth water pushed against me. As I sighed, the scent of pine reached my nostrils. At that moment, the world was a paradise. But, I had a mission. The water slid over my head. I used my hands like paddles and pushed through the water. Amazingly, my head broke the surface under the trampoline. The whole world was in shadow. It felt like a cave. A laugh echoed in the space as Lucas came up too. Next, I dove back under and swam out.

The next fifteen minutes flew by as we kept going back and forth under the trampoline. For yet another time, I dipped back into the water, preparing for another go. That is when disaster struck. I overshot the distance. This caused me to come up under the inflatable part. My head bumped against the fabric. Bubbles shot from my mouth. My heart began to race and my muscles tensed but, I kept swimming. There was no air in the watery depths. A burning sensation reached my lungs. I pushed again, but did not find air. The blackness was disorienting. There was pressure on my chest and my arms began to go limp. Yet, I found the strength to swim. The last of my oxygen left my body. Only then, did air find me as I burst through the water. My breathing was ragged as I gasped mouthfuls of sweet air.

The next challenge was to drag my muscles to the dock. Lucas called out to me, but the whole world was in fog. Next, my mother appeared before me. At this point, something broke. It dawned on me that I could have drowned. A gasp escaped my lips. I ran to my mother to tell her what happened.

On that day, I learned about the dangers of being careless. I had almost lost my life because of a silly game. After that, I was much more careful in the water, I didn’t mess with anything inflatable. I just swam. A valuable lesson was learned.