I remember it as if it were yesterday. Excitement filled my body as I slid on my purple flip flops and headed out to the pool. “Today is the day I will learn how to swim,” I told myself. It was July 8, 2003 and I was determined to become the world’s youngest Olympic swimmer. As I approached the pool, I looked around and no one was there. “I don’t need a baby-sitter,” I thought impatiently. I took off my towel and pre-pared myself for the greatest day of my life. I breathed in deeply, then I stepped into the pool, but I began to contemplate my actions as there was no lifeguard near-by. Cautiously, I walked into the freezing cold 3 ft” water. Shivering, I dipped my head into the pool so that my body could get used to the water temperature faster. I was ready. I began moving my arms and legs as if I were a fish. I was so enthused, “I’m doing it! I’m doing it!” I yelled. Suddenly, the water began to suck me under and I could no longer see or feel the surface. I thought that I would drown, but I didn’t.

I began to grow gills and my feet were wrapped in a mermaid tail. Yes, I was a mermaid. The water was no longer a pool, it became a beautiful ocean. Beautiful fish started to surround me, we conversed. They told me that if I wanted to become human again, I would have to go speak to the big whale. We went searching for him. On our way there, they introduced me to tons of their celebrity friends. I met Nemo from the movie “Finding Nemo”; Spongebob, Patrick, and Sandy from the show “Spongebob Squarepants”, and even The Little Mermaid from the fairy tales. However, the journey to find the big whale was not as nice as it seemed. We encountered enormous Sharks who almost tried to eat us, luckily we got away.

After what seemed like 3 hours of searching, we finally found the big whale. The big whale was not at all what I had imagined. His skin incorporated all the colors of the rainbow and he was very nice to me. He told me to swim to the top of the water and I would then become human again. So I did. When I reached the top of the surface I no longer had my gills, or my mermaid tail. I was no longer in the beautiful ocean anymore; I was in the pool I had begun my journey in. I lay down on the ground next to the pool and closed my eyes. A woman dressed in Lifeguard attire began to give me CPR and asked me all sorts of questions. I explained to her what had happened and she sent me to the hospital. My family awaited for me there.

No one believed me. I didn’t understand. This was the most exciting day of my life and I had no one to share it with. Determined to prove to my family what had happened, I took them back to the pool. I slid off my purple flip-flops again, and stepped into the pool. “Are you watching?” I asked. They responded with a nod. I moved my arms and legs just as I had done. Nothing happened. I did it again, and nothing happened. Humiliated and confused, I got out of the pool and my family took me home. After we ate dinner I went to my room, turned off my lights, and pre-pared for bed. As I laid in the bed, something began to knock on my closet door. I opened it, it was the big whale.