400 Word

Just Keep Swimming

When I was very young, I would hear stories of my family snorkeling. I was too young to participate so instead I would get goggles and rubber fish and look at them underwater in a bathtub. I would stay in the water until I was a prune, taking deep breaths and staying under the water longer then I was out of it. I wondered how I would react to seeing a real shark or something scary underwater.
When I was 8, my family and I went to Hawaii. I had finally received the thumbs up to go snorkeling. The vastness of the ocean was very intimidating and I kind of wished it was the size of the bathtub that I was used to. I mustered up the courage and got in. It was like a whole different world and I was pointing out every single different fish. In the middle of my amusement, I got caught in a current and pulled downward and to the side. My older brother reached out and snatched me up next to him. I wasn’t scared, I kept going, but I was like a leach on my brother. Everywhere he went, I was right next to him.
Four years later, I was in Florida on a snorkeling trip with my family. When we got in the water, I once again clung to my brother, following him everywhere he went, not drifting too far from him. We soon came face to face with a six foot barracuda. I wasn’t scared, I kept swimming.
One year later, I went on another snorkeling trip. This time my brother had gone to college and I was on my own. I started out a little squeamish but soon I was going without any hesitation, I kind of liked being by myself. As I was swimming, a ten foot bull shark swam in front of my face. I wasn’t scared, I kept swimming. I even followed it for 20 minutes.
3 years later I went snorkeling in the murky waters of mangroves. I saw sting rays and being scared of sharks didn’t even cross my mind. I was so used to being independent while snorkeling that I didn’t even notice my younger brother next to me. He followed me the whole time and didn’t leave my side. Every once in a while I would slow down so he could keep up.