I run across the hot concrete the bottoms of my feet burning.
The smell of chlorine fills my nose as
I step up on the diving board with all eyes on me.
Looking out upon the water, doubts floods my mind.

The water could be freezing or worse could swallow me and never let me go.
The line behind me is full of faces that are asking if I’m going.
To back down now would ruin the golden image I hold in my little brother’s eyes.
I start to jump and hear the diving board creak as it bends and propels me upwards.

I feel the shock of the cold water start from my toes and works it’s way up to my hair
The chlorinated water goes up my nose and burns in the center of my skull.
I come up gasping for air and wipe the water out of my eyes
I swim over to the ladder and run back to the end of the line, eager to repeat my triumph