to swim. At some point, I became terrified of water. I can only think of two things that have happened that might have prompted my fear of water but they both happened long before the fear kicked in, years before. When I was in elementary school, a girl in the grade above mine drowned. We came back to school after the weekend and found out she had died. She was in her pool and her hair got caught in the drain (or at least this is the message all the third graders were given). Apparently, her family thought she was goofing off but she was actually stuck under water and trying to get free. I'm sure I've talked about this before but about the same time as that incident, I went fishing with two friends. It was the two girls (sisters), their brother and their mom and stepdad. I don't know where we were but I can describe it. The local jetties are all just strips that stick out into the water. These jetties went straight out but were butted up against a tall wall, then made a right turn once we got to the end. I always figured it was Galveston but I really don't know. We were playing on the rocks at the very end, after that right turn, while the parents were fishing. A wave came and knocked me off into the water. I was having a hard time grabbing onto the rocks because they were so slippery. I remember that a couple of times I was able to get a good grip to pull myself up but each time, another wave would hit and I'd be sucked back under like I was in a vacuum. Nobody helped me and not only was I scared of drowning but I suddenly thought about the stepdad's stringer of fish he'd caught that were probably touching me. I finally pulled myself out of the water. The palms of my hands were bloody from the barnacle or whatever on the rocks. I also had scratches on my legs from rubbing up against them. I don't remember exactly how everyone reacted once I got out but I had a feeling like they thought I did it on purpose. After that my friends and I walked back to shore so I could sit in the shallow water to soak my scrapes in the saltwater. Needless to say, that sucked.
Yesterday morning we went out to the Surfside for pictures. For the first time in a long time, I walked to the end of the jetties. Along the way, I stopped and watched the rocks along the side getting hit with waves and then that water being sucked right down the side of those rocks. I watched and thought about that time I fell. I took a picture of the water being sucked down but it just doesn't stand out. Oh well, here's the picture.
