Sending Out an SOS

Max Bryan

The flashing red and white lights of the ambulance add to the stress of the moment, and within seconds of the ambulance’s arrival, paramedics are on the beach, running towards Jim.

“Estará bíen,” one of them says. “Pero tenemos que llevarlo a un médico pronto.”

My dad nods, finally putting his high school Spanish knowledge to work.

One of the paramedics lifts Jim up and loads him onto a stretcher that another person has wheeled out. Before I know it, my dad has jumped into the ambulance along with the paramedics, and they leave almost as quickly as they came, their bright lights creating quite a contrast against the now dark sky.

I stand there in shock, with my mouth wide open, unable to say anything.

***

“Come on!” I yell. We run out of the crowded tour bus and onto the hot sand. My younger brother Jim follows behind me closely.

The hot sand burns our feet as we run, but we are now only twenty feet from the water, and I get ready to run in.

“James, Maddox, come here!” my mom yells. My thrilled smile turns to a frown as I reluctantly turn around to face my mom.

Better not waste any time, I think to myself as I sprint back to my mom. Jim runs up behind me, obviously thinking the same thing as I am.

“Boys, I don’t care where you go, as long as it's within my line of sight. And stay inside the area with the buoys. I know that this beach is crowded, but don’t try going anywhere that hasn’t been deemed safe by our tour guide. Oh, and text me every half hour on your Apple Watch so that I know that you’re ok. Be back here by 8 o’clock.”

“Alright mom, don’t worry, we will,” Jim responds. Jim and I turn around and dart through massive herds of tourists, sprinting for the water. When we reach the water, our ear-to-ear grins disappear. We stare down at the murky water that is filled with big clumps of green seaweed, wondering who on earth would want to swim there.

I sit down in defeat, realizing that that is the culmination of months of anticipation for our big family vacation to Mexico. I look to my left, where about a half mile away a massive cliff separates our section of the beach from whatever lies farther down the shoreline.

What if… No! I think, not even wanting to contemplate it. Every part of my brain is telling me not to, but I can’t help but think about ways to get off this terrible, disgusting, boring beach. But now that I’ve started thinking about it I can’t stop wondering. What if I were to go just past the cliff? Not by much at all, but just barely on the other side, away from all these people. I look over at Jim, who seems as disappointed by the condition of the water as I do. I whisper something in his ear, and his face goes from a frown to a grin back to a frown in a matter of seconds.

“Look, I’m no fan of this beach, but do you really think that mom wouldn’t care if she looked around for us and turns out we had ignored her direct instructions, and instead of being grateful that her and dad had taken us on such a wonderful vacation, we had wandered off along the beach to who knows where?”

“Fine” I say. I stare down at the sand below me, thinking about what I can say that will change Jim’s rule-abiding mind. “Hey Jim, I bet that there are lots of fish on the other side. They probably just stay away from the area where lots of people are.” If there’s one thing I know about Jim, it’s that he loves animals, and this is my last hope.

“You really think so?” he wonders, brows furrowed in thought.

“Oh yeah, definitely. And we’ll only be gone for a little while, so mom will never know where we’ve been.” With that Jim stands up and pulls my hand, helping me up. I glance back at where mom is sitting under the coconut grove, carelessly sipping her Piña Colada, oblivious to what Jim and I are doing.

We head down the beach to the left, stepping over driftwood and fallen coconuts. The farther we walk, the less dirty the water appears, until eventually we reach the cliff. The cliff is massive, starting pretty far back on shore and sticking several yards out into the water. After all this walking over burning hot sand and under a sweltering sun, the cool water feels amazing on my legs as I slowly wade in. I start swimming out around the cliff and onto the other side of the shore, and my eyes burn from accidentally splashing them as I swim. I open my mouth for a breath of fresh air, but instead take in a large gulp of seawater. I spit it out, and it leaves a repulsively salty taste in my mouth.

By this point, I realize that instead of swimming I can just use the long wall of slippery rock cliff to guide me. A few moments later, I reach the end of the cliff, and I make my way around the jagged rock. As soon as I get past the round side of the cliff, the view is stunning.

I open my mouth in shock at the beautiful beach, untouched by tourists. Crabs scurry up and down the sunny shore, and schools of small brightly-colored fish swim around my legs, curious as to what I’m doing in their ocean.

Jim has just now made it around the cliff and gasps loudly at the beautiful beach. In no time at all, we are splashing onto shore, having the time of our lives.

***

Wow, I think to myself, standing in water about three feet deep. I stare at the little sea urchins on the seafloor, careful not to step on any. As I walk through the water, I kick up little clouds of sand underwater.

All of the sudden, a blood-curdling scream comes from about twenty feet to my right. I look over at Jim. “What happened?” I ask.

“I don’t know? I think it was a jellyfish!”. He runs on shore.

You’re fine I think. I head back on shore too, though . I walk up to him, where he lays on the ground, gripping his midsection.