It was a normal day in sunny Orlando, Florida. I wake up to the mouthwatering smell of bacon and eggs. I wander into the kitchen and see the crispy, golden brown strips of heaven with a side of salty yumminess sitting on the table. My brother and sister are still asleep. My mom tells me all about what we are going to do today and all the fun we were going to have at the beach, but the whole time I was just thinking about what I was going to do at the beach. It was the summer of my 5th-grade year. My family and I were on our first vacation, but yet my brother and sister decide to sleep all day. After about the 2 longest hours of my life, my brother and sister finally wake up. My mom makes them eggs and bacon and I just sit there anxiously watching TV waiting to go. Once everyone got all their stuff packed we headed to the beach. The beach is about 30 minutes away from the condo we were staying at. To pass the time on the way to the beach my brother and I talked about how we were going to dig the biggest hole ever.

We got there around noon when the sun was at its peak. I stepped out of the car and see all the people there, there were people everywhere, in the water, laying on towels, and playing in the sand. We walked over a wooden bridge, it was more like a deck but this way we didn’t have to watch through the dunes. So once I got to the beach I took off my flip-flops, feeling the sand for the first time, it felt amazing, as the sand went in between my toes and my feet sunk into the sand but, I quickly put my shoes back on once I realize that the sand was roasting my little piggies. We set our coolers down and our towels and my siblings and I were off. We take off toward the water, it was cold for being 90 something degrees out, but it felt good. We played in the water for a bit until we heard our aunt yelling “Get up here you guys need to put sunscreen on right now”.

My brother was quick to reply with “I never get burnt. Do I really need sunscreen?”

“If you get burnt I don’t want to hear you later complaining about it.”I knew I needed it, anytime I go outside to play or to do work I get redder than a tomato and that's with normal Missouri weather not with Florida's it's hot no matter what even when it’s raining weather. So I put the sunscreen on and wait the 10 minutes my aunt forces me to before I can get back in. But the whole time I was bugging her so she would want me to leave.

I got back into the water to cool myself off but quickly got back out when I saw my brother digging a hole. My brother and I sit there for 2 to 3 hours digging but it was worth it. We eventually hit water that's when my aunt was telling us to stop because she was scared that we would fall in. The hole was so deep whenever I got in it, it when up to my chest and I was probably 5’4 then. Once we got done with digging our hole it was time for lunch so we put down our shovels and went to wash our hands off. My brother washed his hands off first then I went down and I went and washing the sand off my hands. I turned around looking for my parents, and I could not find them anywhere. I remember that we came in by a bridge so I looked for one so I turned and walked to it, it was about 100 feet away. They were not over there either so I looked around and saw another bridge another 100 feet away so I started walking to that one. At this point, my heart started to pound and I started to sweat more than I already was. I got really nervous and I just keep on walking down the beach hoping I would find them. Once I realized I wasn’t going to find them I stopped and sat down and started to dig. I didn’t think to go to a lifeguard or ask for help. I sat down and there was this couple that looked at me and the wife smiled and the husband looked at me like what the heck are you doing. I was nervous thinking I would never see my parents again but I didn’t think to go to get help. The time passed slowly as I just sat there and dug. My heart was pounding the whole time. I was scared that I would not find them, or they would not find me. I felt awkward just sitting there by myself. I tried to look normal so I just dug and pretended that everything was normal. I thought about all the times I wished that I would never see my family again, and about the times  I was mean to my family and hated them for all the stupid little things that angered me. I regretted all those things. Millions of terrifying thoughts popped into my head. My self-conscience was blocking my common sense, forcing me to be the helpless child I was. As I sat there I could tell that the couple sitting near me were staring at me. It was just them, no kids. I was grateful for them though because I felt as if we're watching over me, being my little guardian angels. I could be totally wrong and they could have just have been there watching me and laughing and thinking, this kid is an idiot. But I like to think they were making sure I was safe. It was about 2 and I was still going to-town of the sand thinking maybe they will be under the sand if I just keep digging. But then out of the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar face.“Nathan, Nathan” They called, as I just sat there and looked at them. I was in shock that they actually found me. “Nathan, what are you doing?” It turned out to be my uncle. I got up and ran to him. We hug for a bit but then he looked at me with a look of confusion. He called my aunt to tell her that he found me and they could tell the police it was fine. I turned around to look at the couple and they were smiling. Maybe they made a bet to see how long it was before someone found me, but they both looked happy for me. No words were said between us but I was thankful for them for some odd reason. After the awkward yet reliving walk back, which had been about half a mile in the other direction. It turns out I had a 50 to 50 shot and ended up picking the wrong direction to walk but that's just my luck. I saw everyone sitting on their towels just staring at me. Right when I sat down “What were you doing”

“Where were you”

“How did you get lost”

“Why didn’t you get a lifeguard”

I answered their questions but I could not answer the one good question: why didn’t I get a lifeguard? I knew that they were there to help but I guess I was just in shock. After 10 minutes of all these questions, my aunt came running over their will a huge smile on her face she gave me a huge hug. She asked me all the same questions and I answered the best I could still a little shocked about what just happened. Once we all got back together everything was a little weird. It was about 6 now and we all decided that it was enough at being at the beach. So we went home after we grabbed a quick bit. I guess digging for hours really takes it out of you because I was starving, but when am I not starving though. They all still asked me questions about what went through my head and what I did the whole time. When I told them what I was doing (digging a hole) they all started to laugh and my parents just shook their heads. I'm a Murphy's law kind of guy; If it can happen, it will happen.