I was 9 years old turning 10 soon and I was so excited to get up that Saturday morning because I was going to meet with my favorite golf instructor Danny. He was so great with kids, always kept them engaged. Which was a good thing for me because of how ADD I am and was. Not only was he mine and my sisters golf instructor, but he was a family friend.

During the summer before the accident my family and his family all went down to the beach for a week together. It was the most fun I’ve had at the beach my whole life. All of us kids went on Danny’s boat and went tubing. We all were having so much fun that we stayed on the boat till the sun went down. After that week was over and we went home we all felt closer to Danny than ever before. That trip was the beginning of my family's and my love and trust for Danny.

Back to that Saturday morning. The weather didn’t look too good but the weatherman said that the storm wasn’t going to come till 2 P.M., which would be right after my lesson. But how accurate are weathermen truly? It was going to be okay I thought. I was going to be able to get my lesson in and see Danny before the storm hit. Thunderstorms have always scared me but now I am terrified. As my father was driving me to my lesson I was looking out the sunroof of the car. The clouds were dark, really dark. They looked like angry unruly cotton.
“Don’t worry Julia” my father said “If the storms come close enough the horns will go off protecting us and other golfers from lightning” My mind was at ease hearing my father say that. I finally got to the range and got to see Danny. I gave him a huge hug because it had been a month since I’d seen him. The last time we saw him we were all at the beach. I had a great lesson as far as I can remember, but  most of the time I was looking up in the sky at the black cotton candy clouds. For me the lesson went by very quickly and I couldn’t wait for my dad to drive us back in the golf cart to go into the clubhouse. That drive in the un protective golf cart from the range felt like an eternity. The skies were almost as dark as night the winds were swirling fast enough to have me walk sideways, but these horns my dad spoke of had not gone off yet. Once my father parked the cart we ran for the door. Right as he opened it a loud crack shook the whole building and knocked  me off my feet. It sounded like a chandelier falling from thousands of feet up in the air hitting a concrete floor and shattering all over the place. A second later the horn went off, blaring a warning about the event that had just happened.

“Get inside now” my dad ordered.
“What was that?” I asked. “Where was the horn?”
“ I believe that was lightning sweetie. Just sit down and I will get more information.”

My dad placed me on a chair in the golf shop where I watched the radar of this storm, which looked like it covered the whole DMV. I was stunned. I didn’t move an inch since my dad had left me to go find out what happened. By the time I was starting to feel normal again when I looked around no one was there, not even the interns who usually sit in the front greeting people and taking phone calls. I was so excited to see my dad walk back in but he didn’t look excited to see me at all. He had this long face with a deepening look of sadness in his eyes and I was confused.

“Jules… That awful noise we heard was in fact lightning. It struck before the horns could warn people to get under cover”
“Okay so what. Did it hit a tree and ruin the course?”
“No, it hit a person” He was hesitant to continue the rest of the sentence and I stood up curious and hopeful he wasn’t about to say the name that was in my head. “It hit Danny.” I burst out in tears.
“Where is he now? Can we go help him?”
“We can’t do anything but a medevac helicopter is coming to get him right now from the range.
“I want to go see him. Right now.”
“You can’t. We can go see him in the hospital in a day or so.”

The next day or so my dad drove me and mother and sister to the hospital to give Danny and his family our love. I was excited to see him because I wanted to make sure he was okay. When we walked into the room we saw his kids and wife. My parents went to greet his wife and my sister and I went to give hugs to his kids. When I first saw Danny I was shocked. His entire left half was burnt. His skin looked like a melting candle but he was still able to talk.

“Hello Julia” I was so happy he remembered who I was I forgot to respond until my sister nudged me.
“Hi Danny! How do you feel?”
“I’ve had better days but I am happy to see you and your family.” The conversation went on for a while. Than after a long pause of silence Danny said
“Hello Julia” I was confused. I was hesitant to answer again.
“Hi Danny. How do you feel?” I said in an uncertain tone.
“I’ve had better days but I am happy to see you and your family.” I looked back at my parents and my father mouthed
“It’s okay”