An unforgettable day at the lake.
As I ate my lunch on a lakeside cliff an autumn leaf fell onto the water, rippling its surface, just as it did so many years ago…
It was a perfect autumn day. Not a cloud in the sky. The tall almost skeletal trees were shedding their leaves which blanketed the ground in colours of red, yellow and orange. I was with my two brothers, Brian and Jason, as our mother had sent us to the lake with a picnic and told us to enjoy the warm weather while it lasted.
My brothers had been playing tag. I didn’t want to play as they were both at least five years older than me. They were much faster, bigger and stronger than me. I walked around the lakes edge picking up pretty leaves and funny looking rocks. I sat and laid the leaves and rocks on a cliff, overhanging the lake. I then turned to watch my brothers play tag, they were yelling and screaming and running and hiding from each other. All of a sudden my oldest brother Jason ran towards me. I turned around and ran, scared that he was going to bowl me over but as I turned to run I fell into air.
I was falling. Then I felt as if someone was running sharp nails into me. I looked up and saw my brothers looking down into the lake, with unforgettable panicked expressions on their faces. My body numbed with shocked couldn’t move. The cold water stung me as if it were hot. Everything was dark and silent. I was scared.
Frantically I kicked with all my force, scared that if I was to hit the ground it would swallow me whole. The water was pulling me down. All this effort from kicking showed very little result. I couldn’t see, I couldn’t breathe, and needles were stinging my lungs from the inside out. I couldn’t tell if I was crying but, if I wasn’t under water I was sure I would be. I screamed for my mum and dad. Something was pulling me and then I remembered nothing.
I could hear people talking. I could hear my mum and dad. I was shivering, crying, coughing and sore, but most of all I was scared. I was wrapped my favourite pink blanket, sitting on the hard ground next to the lake. My mum was crying and had tears falling down her cheeks and my dad was hugging my brothers, they also looked scared and upset. Dad came over to me and gave me a big hug and said “everything will be okay.” He then carried me to the car and took me to meet a doctor. I stared out of the back window of the car, where the water of the lake was still rippling as the leaves continued to fall as if nothing had happened.
I watched the ripples until there was nothing left to watch. A tear ran down my face and I backed away from the lake’s edge, I was scared that it may swallow me again.
As I ate my lunch on a lakeside cliff an autumn leaf fell onto the water, rippling its surface, just as it did so many years ago…
It was a perfect autumn day. Not a cloud in the sky. The tall almost skeletal trees were shedding their leaves which blanketed the ground in colours of red, yellow and orange. I was with my two brothers, Brian and Jason, as our mother had sent us to the lake with a picnic and told us to enjoy the warm weather while it lasted.
My brothers had been playing tag. I didn’t want to play as they were both at least five years older than me. They were much faster, bigger and stronger than me. I walked around the lakes edge picking up pretty leaves and funny looking rocks. I sat and laid the leaves and rocks on a cliff, overhanging the lake. I then turned to watch my brothers play tag, they were yelling and screaming and running and hiding from each other. All of a sudden my oldest brother Jason ran towards me. I turned around and ran, scared that he was going to bowl me over but as I turned to run I fell into air.
I was falling. Then I felt as if someone was running sharp nails into me. I looked up and saw my brothers looking down into the lake, with unforgettable panicked expressions on their faces. My body numbed with shocked couldn’t move. The cold water stung me as if it were hot. Everything was dark and silent. I was scared.
Frantically I kicked with all my force, scared that if I was to hit the ground it would swallow me whole. The water was pulling me down. All this effort from kicking showed very little result. I couldn’t see, I couldn’t breathe, and needles were stinging my lungs from the inside out. I couldn’t tell if I was crying but, if I wasn’t under water I was sure I would be. I screamed for my mum and dad. Something was pulling me and then I remembered nothing.
I could hear people talking. I could hear my mum and dad. I was shivering, crying, coughing and sore, but most of all I was scared. I was wrapped my favourite pink blanket, sitting on the hard ground next to the lake. My mum was crying and had tears falling down her cheeks and my dad was hugging my brothers, they also looked scared and upset. Dad came over to me and gave me a big hug and said “everything will be okay.” He then carried me to the car and took me to meet a doctor. I stared out of the back window of the car, where the water of the lake was still rippling as the leaves continued to fall as if nothing had happened.
I watched the ripples until there was nothing left to watch. A tear ran down my face and I backed away from the lake’s edge, I was scared that it may swallow me again.