Just off the east coast of Australia, a 14 year old boy named Dylan was getting ready to take the longest trip of his life. He was going to go all the way from his hometown to San Diego, California with just his two parents on a 50 foot sailboat. Dylan was taking this trip to do research on the ocean, weather, and animals of this part of the world where very few people live or can study it by boat for a long period of time. His goal was to discover things that no explorers or scientists have ever known before, something that will take a lot of knowledge and effort. Most 14 year olds don’t have the knowledge to do research like this, but Dylan was special. He graduated high school when he was just ten years old because mostly everything he has ever been taught was simply too easy. Now, he was finishing up his senior year of college at Princeton, and this research is what is going to close out his last year of school.

Dylan was ready to take this risk, and he didn’t even have to reconsider anything before he left. He didn’t want to reconsider anything. His parents were behind him for every decision he made, no matter how ambitious it may have seemed, and they had enough trust in him to take them on this journey. They had always supported his ideas, especially the ones that could make him even smarter than he is now, and this one is a perfect example of that. However, sometimes Dylan would be too busy or stressed to even think about who has been encouraging him, even his own mother and father.

As Dylan left the jetty, he took a deep breath of fresh, sea air and smiled. The ocean made him so happy. It relieved all of his stress and worries. It was his favorite thing in the entire world, second only to his family. Both the ocean and Dylan’s family meant a lot to him. His family supported his love for science and learning, and the ocean is what motivated this passion. Everything in Dylan’s life circled around those things.

The wind blew the boat away from the land, starting a journey that would be the greatest things ever, at least that’s what Dylan hoped for.

Not even halfway through, Dylan accomplished more research than he thought he could do in the whole trip. With complex equations and algorithms that most people can’t even understand, he discovered things that were never known before.

The ride was going smoothly. Beautiful sunshine and calm waters, along with incredible research, made for lots of happiness.

Just past Hawaii, Dylan’s research came to an alarming stop. He had realized that this was a very populated place in which people have studied for years before he arrived. He couldn’t study anything that hasn’t already been looked deeply into by Hawaiian scientists. This worried Dylan and his parents.

“I would certainly hope that this doesn’t conclude your studies,” said his father. “That would be a huge disappointment. I wouldn’t be disappointed in you, of course, but rather for you.”

“Of course.” Dylan replied. He thought about this for a few seconds. What if this really was the end? He absolutely had to discover more things that could eventually lead to something huge, he thought. Although his father meant well, what he said pushed Dylan to believe that he wasn’t doing good enough. He was expecting too much from himself.

Dylan’s mother on the other hand would be proud of him, no matter what happened beyond this point. She would support him for as long as she lived.

Once Dylan was able to pull himself together, he decided to study the weather. He found some normal weather changes, nothing unusual, but after hours of hard work, he found something shocking: a storm.

Based on temperature, tides, wind, water temperature, Dylan knew this would be a giant storm, one that could end everything for Dylan’s family if they didn’t react quick enough. He warned his parents. His mother had tears of worry in her eyes, meanwhile, his father didn’t believe Dylan. He thought this must have been a mistake, there is no way that a storm would be coming towards them.

His father was proved wrong. The next day, the waves got rougher, the skies became darker, the air became cooler. All were major warning signs that a big storm is on it’s way. Dylan’s initial reaction was to turn the boat around. Why wouldn’t he? There was no reason not to, so that’s exactly what he did. They were a couple hundred miles away from Hawaii at this point, so it was a risk, but it seemed to be the only option.

A few days passed, worrisome days. It was a race to see if Dylan could get to Hawaii before the storm reached him. He estimated five more hours before he could finally get to Hawaii, but only three until those frightening rainclouds would blow over him.

One hour passed. Dylan’s mother was losing hope. She didn’t know what could become of them if they didn’t make it to the land.

Another hour passed. Dylan’s father was growing impatient, and demanded Dylan to do all sorts of tasks in order to get that boat to move as quickly as possible.

He had just one hour left. One hour to maneuver the sails just right, perfectly for the furious winds to catch it. One hour to shift and direct the boat through waves that were growing at an increasing rate. One hour to keep his mother calm. One hour to keep himself from getting frustrated. One hour to hide his own fear. One last hour of him telling himself that this can’t be happening, and that it was all up to him.

Time was up. Clouds sailed above Dylan’s family. Rain showered upon them. The thunder boomed. The lightning surrounded the boat completely. Waves pushed them back and forth. This was when Dylan really got scared.

Dylan’s father stomped around the boat, trying to keep it steady. At this point, some waves were swelling taller than the tip of the sailboat mast, making it extremely difficult for him to do so.

This was the most frightening moment in all 14 years of Dylan’s existence. He felt like he was at the bottom of a black hole, and the dark waves were caving in on him. He was normally very smart when it came to problem solving, but this problem was too big. All he could do was watch it happen, praying for it to stop.

His mother was scaring him the most. She was panicking to the point where she was having trouble breathing. She was so afraid, it was almost like she already knew what was about to happen. With a gust of wind and push of a wave, Dylan’s mother was hurled off the boat.

Dylan screamed. His father scrambled to help. He grabbed some rope to tug her back on the boat. At the age of 14, Dylan saw his mother for the very last time.

Dylan had never disliked the ocean, his lifelong favorite place, more than he did in that exact moment.

The storm had peaked. It was no longer rainy, and it was barely cloudy. The ocean was a bit rough, but nothing compared to the day before.

It was the next day and Dylan woke up to the rising sun, in complete disbelief. He was lying down on the port side of the boat, which looked pretty beat up now. Dylan realized that he had taken his mother and all the support she gave for granted.

He and his father didn’t really know what they could do other than sit on that boat, crying. He reluctantly shifted the sails and rudders, just trying to find Hawaii. By now they should be pretty close. His father just sat at the bow, looking for any land or boats that could save them from their misery.

The boat came upon land, but that didn’t make Dylan feel any better. He felt just as empty as he did when his mother fell off.

“Son,” said Dylan’s father, “I’ve supported a lot of your ambitious, risky decisions. But this one. This one did us no good. Taking us on this trip was a little too ambitious, even for you, but taking yourself on it? Don’t you have any concern for your own safety. This was something that should have never happened, even in your wildest dreams. Maybe you’re just too young, and maybe I was fooled by your good grades. I thought you’d be smart enough to get us out of a situation like that. Obviously I was wrong. I’m angry at you for letting this happen, but also angry with myself for putting this trust into you and believing that everything would be just fine. I hope you’re proud of yourself, bringing me and who used to be your mother on that little journey of yours, I hope you’re real proud. All of that research, was it worth it? Was it worth losing your mother over?”

No, Dylan thought. Nothing was worth losing his mother over. He had taken a risk that had cost him so much. This risk was one that he should have thought twice about.