When I was a little kid and thought of my “future” my thoughts were something like “when I turn ten I will have a colossal stuffed animal collection bigger then all the rest!” never had I thought “when I turn ten I will have gone through the most horrifying event in my life,” or “When I turn ten I will lose everything.” Unfortunately like most kids I was naive. It was on my tenth birthday and my parents had surprised me with a family vacation to Hawaii! My parents and my two older brothers had loaded into the car and we were off to the airport! As optimistic as I was I still had some uncertainties that we would get there safely. I’ve never been on a plane before! We boarded the plane and watched as our home had faded away, slowly drifting behind the clouds. The flight was nearly over and you could feel the shift in weather. As the plane had emerged from the clouds into the clear blue sky you could see the sun beam through the windows, filling the plane with warmth. After landing, everyone piled out, fumbling over one another due to the eagerness to escape from the cramped and claustrophobic plane. We headed to find our suitcases on the luggage carousel, so anxious to go to the beach for the first time, I wasn’t even mesmerized by the luggage circling round and round like most ten year olds, no, I was determined to spot our luggage. As my eyes surveyed the carousel I spotted our bags and with as much grace as a ten year old can have I grasped the handle and yanked the luggage off. We walked outside and I could feel the sun seeping into my skin; we called for a cab. Sliding into the back seat the leather was so hot it burned my legs!
Pulling up to hotel I was so anxious I could hardly sit still, so much so that I was constantly being yelled at by my twelve and fourteen year old brothers! The cab dropped us off by the lobby and we hopped out. Peering through the lobby I spotted the beach I began to run but before I could let my foot hit the ground my Dad said, “Hold on! Take your suitcase up to the room before you do anything!” dragging my feet I went to the trunk and hulled out my bag, taking our room key from my moms hand I was off, there was no stopping me! My brothers even though they were older then me they still found joy in racing me. I may have been ten but I was fast, but there long legs still beat me every time. Tearing the key from my hand they slid in the door slamming it in my face, but I didn’t care nothing was going to stop me from getting to the beach! I went down the halls searching for the public bathroom once I found it I went in and changed into my swimming suit by the time I got back everyone else was already finished changing. I threw my bag on the pull out couch, the only bed left, and finally we headed off to the beach.
I walked down the wooden bridge avoiding the sand as I got to the end I slipped my flip-flops off and dug my feet in, it was burning hot I could barely stand it, I sprinted towards the water! I stopped where the sand was wet, a huge wave crashed down and the water flooded towards my feet and it soon fled back to the sea pulling the sand from under my feet. This is the same process I went through everyday, for three days straight waking up, eating, going to the beach, eating, going to the beach, eating, and then sleeping.
On our fourth day I woke up later then usual, exhausted from the long days in the sun my skin now was a rosy pink stinging when touched, but that didn’t stop me, I globed on sun screen and headed off to the beach my parents and brothers trailing behind. It turned out to be a good thing that we slept in because by the looks of the people at the beach it was a scolding hot morning! Yet again I slipped off my sandals and dug my feet in the sand; the sand was still warm but not as hot as the other day which was shocking because everyone at the beach were starting to show signs of sunburns from the morning already. I looked out to the sea were my siblings had already plunged into, shrugging off my strange feeling I dove into the waters, but soon the sun was covered by clouds and the water became cold and I decided to take a break, my brothers teasing me saying how much of a wimp I was! Sitting next to my parents I looked up to find a huge wave crashing down onto my brothers, screams came from every direction warning us to get out of the water. In the distance you could see a huge swirl of waves getting closer and closer, and as they came closer they began to gain speed! My parents ran to my brothers my dad diving in to pull them out. My mother screaming as the whirl of waves came knocking my mom to the ground. The water came all the way up to the beach and came surging at me wiping me out. Through all the chaos I tried to keep my eyes on my family but people were flying by me, and all I could see was a blur of color, I became dizzy from trying to see past the people! Loosing sight of them I was scared and unsure if I should just run to the room. I told myself I need to leave ill find them later, but a wave engulfed me sucking me to the bottom trying to breath I inhaled about a gallon of salt water. It spit me out and swallowed me back in about ten times each time hitting my head harder on the ground. It went dark the sun no longer peered through the hole of darkness. I was enclosed in this wave and I was never going to get out! Struggling to free myself I wailed my harms in every direction hitting what seemed like a pole so hard I broke my hand, gripping to this pole for life I pulled myself out gasping for air I was all the way to the hotel holding onto to some ones hand we looked at each other and ran! We went all the way to the street grabbing as many people as we could. There were ten of us, most kids and we sat there, watching as other people’s lives flashed before our eyes as the waves became bigger and more threatening then before, hopeless we began to sob. Helicopters flew ahead and took us to a shelter, after a few days of moping around frightened and confused, they finally had a list put up of those found alive and those who were dead. Many were in the line to see the lists, the room was eerily silent, the air filled with only the sounds of sobs and a few sighs of relief. It was my turn to check the list closing my eyes and taking a deep breathe I looked at the alive list, my heart pounding I read the list at least twenty times there names weren’t there, it had to be a mistake! I turned to the list of deaths and there the first four names on the sheet were my mom, dad, and two brothers, I was ten and my life wasn’t full of giant stuffed animal collections. I had no unrealistic thoughts of my future, I didn’t wish to become an adult like most ten year olds, and the only thing I wished for was my family back. I was only ten and I was already alone.