It was such a beautiful day and it could have not gotten better. The taste of the creamy and sweet chocolate-vanilla twist ice cream in my m the outh was finishing touch to the perfect day. It was about time to leave and we were just walking on the boardwalk, as we walked, I slowly turned my head to the right and saw the sun shine brighter than a diamond in the open blue sky. Right below that stunning view there were people playing in the beach, kids were playing with a rainbow colored beach ball, girls gossiped amongst each other and there was a ton of people swimming in the clear blue water.

I noticed that near the shore a bunch of people were talking amongst each other and were pointing to the end of the water. When I took a look at the place where they were pointing at, I noticed something was moving like a man. He looked like he was drowning. My mom, my brother and I ran to the people. With every step I took it felt like I was getting farther and farther and when we finally got there my heart would not stop beating. It would beat faster and faster with every second that passed. By the time we got there a lifeguard was half way to the man while the other guards were just diving in. At the end of the water, all you could see was a man trying to save and fight for himself against a natural element in the world. A natural element one usually finds harmless. The one guard that dove in first reached the man. He took him by the neck and with a struggle he put him on red rescue tube. As soon the man was on the rescue tube it gave him an opportunity to take a breath. Sometimes I wonder if that breath could have been the difference between him being alive or dead. I felt so impatient. I did not want to see someone die in front of me. My heart was pumping eagerly and I felt my blood rush through my veins. With every breath I took, the blood ran faster and faster.

The first lifeguard that got to the man had met with the other three guards and now all were coming to the shore. I could see the exhaustion and relief on their faces. The man was pale and green. Not a bright or colorful green but a green that cries death. He was breathing so slowly and his breaths were short, as if all of the oxygen in the world was gone. His stomach was bloated and it looked hard. One of the other guards gave the man CPR, as he practiced it I could see that he was shaking but yet there was such confidence on his face and body that it wasn’t noticeable. The guard that got to him first started to run towards the exit. I have never seen a man run so fast. I could not believe it, he had just swum more that 100 ft and carried an almost dead man twice his size to the shore and now he is running another 100 ft. The man was throwing water out of his mouth, bits by bits. The color of his skin was changing as well. He no longer had a death green color but a more live color, a color that fits a living human. He was breathing! He was alive! And all I could think was thank God he is ok. There were paramedics surrounding the man. The ambulance came to take him and one of his family members. The woman was terrified and all I could hear was “Vas a estar bien” which translates to “You are going to be ok”. Everything happened so fast and yet at some points in that moment time seemed to slow down.

I was so glad that nothing happened. While we were walking back to the boardwalk to meet my dad, the feeling of losing someone special to the ocean, something we find harmless at times, is terrifying. The water is literary taking them away from you and it will give them back except with no life. I am grateful to have all of the people I love with me, and it just reminds me that one never knows when one can lose someone, so always appreciate them.