She looked around and saw nothing but the ocean from all angles.  Floating at the top of the sea, she saw a plentiful amount of colorful fish below her.  They circled her.  The waves swayed back and forth.  The fish, the seaweed, the sand on the ocean floor, and the hair on her face all swayed with her.  She loved this moment. Looking at the beautiful scenery, snorkeling, and being able to experience it with her family.  She swam around the the reef, noticing that the ocean was a little rough that day, but she kept going.

She was with her family, at Black Rock Beach.  She had already been in Hawaii for a week now. Going to different beaches every day and staying there till night fell, like every other tourist there.  She swam farther out to sea, watching the bottom below her get deeper the more she swam.  She saw the drop get larger and the waves get rougher, but thought nothing of it.  It was the ocean after all, that is what happens.  She bit onto the pieces of rubber in her mouth, which was attached to the snorkel and kept it in place.

It was kind of relaxing to her.  Enjoying the experience of the ocean, and thinking about everything and anything.  “That was good dinner last night...I wonder what we are doing after this...wouldn’t it be fun to be a fish,” she said to herself.  It was the crazy things that came to her mind which made this experience so fun.
She swam towards a school of fish, as she felt a slight pull into the ocean.  It was as if the ocean was breathing her.  While breathing out, the ocean pushed a giant wave into shore.  She swallowed saltwater.  She choked.  She pulled off her mask and rose above water, coughing.  It was an uncomfortable situation to be in, but she thought nothing of it.  That is what happens in the ocean.  “Are you ok?” Her mom said. She nodded.  They kept swimming.

She turned the corner of black rock, the big black cliff in the ocean.  It was like a whole new world under there.  Right after she turned that corner, she saw two small turtles playing in the long grasses of seaweed.  They were happy.  She noticed that the drop had become deeper, and the fish became more colorful, and bigger.  Life felt bigger and better down there.  Everything seemed happy.  She decided to take a deep breath and dive under water.  She felt a part of that ocean.  She felt connected to it.  Looking up, all she saw was the curvy ocean line and the fish.  She swam back up for air and blew the water out of her tube.  The ocean was rough above water, but she kept going.

She continued and stubbed upon a starfish.  It was orange and had four long arms, and 1 short one.  She knew that starfish’s limbs grew back once they get eaten or torn off by another animal.  This interested her.  She examined the starfish.  She pointed it out to her family and they all looked at it too.

She then heard a loud noise not to far away from her, which sounded like an old man yelling.  The few people nearby lifted their head above the water and saw an old man with his wife.  “Help! Please help my wife!” he said.  They were in a panic.  Suddenly, it felt as if the ocean took a giant deep breath in.  But this time it did not breath out.  The ocean water kept going out to sea and took seven people with it.  It was the girl, her family, and the older couple and their son and they were all stuck in a rip tide

The older couple were crying and begged for help.  Luckily, a long skinny rowing boat had passed by not too far away, and tried to help us out of the riptide.  But because everyone was on top of a big coral reef, they could not come in close enough.  The girl began to worry.  If the small boat could not come, than what would?

The girl began to think of what everyone had told her to do if she ever got caught in a riptide: not to fight it, let it take you out to sea, and then exit from the side.  But she could not go through with the thought of letting it take her out to sea.

About three feet away she saw a small rock sticking out of the water.  The seven people swam to it.  It was slippery and small, so everyone had to hold on tight.  Whenever a wave came, it was a struggle to keep hold of the rock.  At one point, a big wave came and the old man’s wife fell off the rock.  The old man began to worry and him and his son worked to pick her back up, while keeping ahold of the rock.

After a few minutes of struggling, finally everything started to calm down.  The current, the waves, and the old couple.  It was around this time when she noticed she had lost one of her flippers and her mask.  Everyone was able to climb off the rock and swim back to shore. Mentally, it was hard for her to go through this situation, especially having to deal with the scared old couple.  She had never been happier to be on shore.  She sat on the beach, watching the waves and the water splash against the rock which they all held onto.  Everything looked so pretty.  The sun reflected onto the ocean so beautifully, but yet she now looked at the ocean differently.

Something so beautiful caused many people much pain that day. Now the ocean was not only home to colorful fish, but the home of strangeness and it in lies a mystery and power that many of us will never understand.