The Rapids Every summer we take a camping trip, a normal family camping trip and we do things like swimming and playing outside and going to the water. Expect this year Jennifer and her family actually did something new and decided to go river rafting on their camping trip! Jennifer being as paranoid as she is she really didn’t want to go rafting but she built up some courage to go! The morning of the rafting day, Jennifer looked outside and it was a beautiful day about 108 degrees, bright blue sky, green grass, warm air and the bright shining sun. Jennifer and her family started to walk down the trail to the river where there rafting experience was going to take place. There was so many things running through her head. All she could smell was the nice fresh air, but what she could hear was different …. All she heard was the roaring sounds of the rapid waters. Her Mother made her go in a raft by herself and her heart was pounding so fast and so much she could hear it over the sounds of the roaring waves. Her mom and her brother and sister shared one big raft. As everyone got settled and go their life jackets on THEY started down the river, everything seemed normal even when we hit some rapids I stayed calm and was able to get through them. THEY ended up taking a turn and all JENNIFER could think was what’s going to be around this corner. As THEY made THEIR way around the corner it seemed as normal as all the rest of the river. As some would say “Too good to be true”, we were just floating along and then we hear the loudest waves we have ever heard in our lives. Panic set in and everyone’s heart was pounding because there was nothing we could do but try to get through those mighty rapids. All Jennifer’s mother thought was her kids life’s were in danger.. Then in that moment we hit the rapids…it felt like they had a mind of their own they started to thrash and crash on the wave s and go side to side up and down. This whole time I was closing my eyes praying everything was going to be alright. Jennifer looks up and see’s her mom’s raft heading fastly and out of control towards a wall of logs sticking up in the water. My heart dropped and all I could do was try to get my raft close enough to try and pull them away from hitting the logs. My raft wasn’t fast enough and all I heard was my sister and brother screaming and crying in fear, and my mom trying to calm them down saying “everything is going to be okay” and then, they hit the logs. There was a moment of silence and then my little sister started screaming that the raft had a hole and that the raft was filling up with water. In a moment a fear like that all you want to happen is to get everyone to safety.. Jennifer’s mom was able to get the little ones and herself safely to shore but then it was my turn.
As I see the rest of my family getting safely to shore, my heart was still pounding, I was still shaking with fear because I was quickly, rapidly heading in the same direction toward the logs. I had a idea that may or may not work but trying is better than nothing. So I laid on my back and put my feet out as far as I could, as I started hitting the fast rapids I held my feet our hoping this idea would work. Then my moment of fear kicked in and I hit the logs, but with my feet out I was able to use my feet and push my raft far enough away that I wouldn’t hit the raft on any more logs. I then was able to redirect my raft and get safely to shore with the rest of my family.