Hello. My name is Daniel Gardner. My story today takes place a few years ago in a car. I look out the window from the back seat and see a beautiful blue sky with pearly white clouds scattered across the sky like dice. The sun shines in the sky like a beacon of hope. It reflects off the sand as if it were radiating off glass. The lush variety of green grass and abundant palm trees sway gently in the breeze. The light turns green and we start flying over it all as if time were speeding up. we pull into the driveway to see no beach houses. But a mansion. We walk in and see the house decorated as if angels had come by and done it themselves. We were finally on vacation. One day, while we were on vacation, my dad decided to do a group activity and rent ocean canoes from some sort of surf shop a few miles away. My father and mother, my brothers and sisters, one of my brothers with his wife and two children and me. we all pack up and drive to the beach. One street later we arrive. the tide was high and unusual, so it dove over the side and pooled in a makeshift pond it created in the middle of the beach head. So to try them out and get a feel for it, we all paddle around this little makeshift pond for about an hour. Once we were done with it, we decided to take a tour. My brother with the family and the third eldest went first. An hour passed and they returned. Then it was my father's turn and mine. We start heading towards the big open blue. about a half mile away my dad saw some big waves and said we were going to go out there and have fun. After about 15 minutes we encountered the waves, but there was a problem. The waves were MUCH BIGGER than he thought. What he was thinking middle of paper... the force completely fails and he lets go and begins to drown and sink. not to save him but to continue paddling and get to safety. I hold back my tears with fire and brimstone and start paddling like the devil is behind us even though I feel exhausted too. After about an hour or so it seems like we're starting to get closer and my dad feels the sand brushing against his feet. We both breathed a huge sigh of relief when my father finally hit rock bottom. Being still about 400 meters from the shore, we do a sort of “island hopping” with the patches of sand and return where we came from. Once back we decide that's enough beach for the day and head home. Feeling both victorious and defeated, I still have a scar within me. and inside that scar, there's a little dark hole inside me that's afraid of the ocean. And to this day I'm afraid I'll always be afraid.