The Last Breath

It’s a bright sunny day. The intoxicating ocean air fills my chest. A breath in and out. I sink my feet into the warm, golden sand closing my eyes and feeling a moment relaxation. It’s a Sunday morning in Vero Beach and no one is up yet, not even the little lizards that scamper over everything. I like the quietness in the mornings, going to the beach and watching the sunrise over the ocean. This is also the best time for the biggest surf. When there is big surf there is always a big rip current. The first thing I was taught to do was swim out of a rip current by swimming parallel to the shore. Someone died in a rip current in Miami last week and the body was never found. I never really think about the dangers in the Ocean because I love it too much. Anything you love is always dangerous. The surf is huge today. I brought my favorite board even though the leash is a little too tight around my ankle. As always I stretch out before going in the water and after that I head out. I make sure I can keep my breath held for two minutes, even though the waves are coming in 13 second sets in progressions of 9 which would take about 2 minutes before a 23 second break in between would come. The barrels are great today. I am getting tired but I want to kill this last wave. This is a big mistake. It is low tide right now and I am by a reef which I had not realized. My leash gets caught and once I pull it breaks off of my board. That was my last chance of getting back to shore. I was right, the next wave is a killer. I am slammed under as my head hits the reef, like hitting concrete at 200 mph. I do not know which way is up. The toxic ocean water fills my chest, the last breath escapes my body. 

As I bask in the quietness, the stillness is violently tossing my body. I realize this is it. The sun seeps deep into my skin, it’s too hot. I swallow the salty ocean water, it burns my throat and floods through my nose. I fall deeper and deeper into the sand that once cradled my body so perfectly. Then it all goes dark. It all stops. My family will go out eventually, assuming I will come home later. They will not find me or my board. I will just be part of the Ocean, the Ocean I loved too much had claimed me for my passion. Love is dangerous.

~ Sammy S.