San Francisco Solly Taragin ‘23

San Francisco

Solly Taragin

One day when I was around seven or eight, while my family was in San Francisco, we decided to go to the beach. It wasn’t a very hot day. It was pretty cold actually, and the San Francisco wind is no joke. We went anyway because what the hell? I remember sitting in the backseat of our rental car, in between David and Cecile, and I remember I had a fat smile on my face. Wait… I don’t remember actually smiling, but I remember the feeling of happiness that I had. Sitting in between my siblings just felt very comforting. I also love the beach. When we got there we all held something as we walked into the sand and near the water. I think I was holding one or two towels, a small job for a small boy. David probably tried to hold a lot because he was a teenager, and teenaged boys love to show off the strength that they don’t have. My dad probably held the football or something since he strives to cling to his youth as much as possible. My mom was probably holding like thirteen things but she doesn’t complain. As long as the family’s happy, she’s happy. And then there’s Cecile, who probably held nothing because her arm hurt or something. Damn Cecile. While the rest of the family sat on some towels for a bit, I was up and jumping around and complaining. “Let’s go in the water!” I kept screaming. “Let’s go in the water!”

As the youngest child, I ended up getting what I wanted. As if I had raised them with the force, the rest of my family stood up in sync. I ran in front as if I were leading them into battle. The water shocked me as it hit my feet and ankles. I came to an abrupt stop. The cold went up my body like a rapidly spreading virus. “I’m a man,” I thought to myself. I continued walking in. When I got to my knees I heard a scream. I turned around and saw Cecile running away from the water. My mom followed her. Eventually, I got to my waist and I felt super cold. This slow progression was excruciating. I just needed to go for it. “Screw it,” I said out loud, thinking that my three-foot-something body delivering that prepubescent high-pitched voice sounded tough. I closed my eyes and jumped up and then moved my legs as I descended so that I was able to dunk my head under the water. “Oh my god!” I said when I picked my head up. My dad was laughing while watching me and my brother enviously, as he only had his ankles in the water. I swam towards the shore and then back to where I was and repeated the cycle a few times. I just needed to keep moving a lot to try to warm up. Soon I started to lose the freezing feeling coursing throughout my body. Eventually, I felt fine. The water was still cold but it wasn’t a feeling I wanted to escape from. My brother had already gone back to my mom and sister, and my dad was not coming in any deeper. I loved it, though. Every time I ducked my head and came up I felt refreshed and pure. Eventually, my dad told me to not go any deeper as he turned around to join the rest. I stayed for a while longer until I started to get cold again. As I stepped out of the water and stood on the sand, I immediately felt freezing. The wind hit my cold, wet skin and I felt like crying. When my parents saw me, they both picked up towels and started coming toward me quickly. They wrapped both towels around me and rubbed their hands against the towels on my back and shoulders and I felt as warm as ever. They continued like that for a while. I felt warm and safe. Nothing was able to hurt me. Even if a tiger had shown up, it wouldn’t have been able to get through the forcefield surrounding me.