She tripped and fell into the burning sand, but that didn’t stop from completing her mission to cool off. She stood at the edge of the water. With every wave tickling her toes she sunk into the sand. Soon her ankles had been completely consumed in sand. She broke free then wobbled into the water, every little pebble stabbed the bottoms of her feet. With every step deeper into the cool July water Emily was refreshed. Her strawberry blonde hair absorbed the sun and freckles were scattered across her chubby cheeked face.
“Emily, don’t got too far,” Her mother yelled in concern.
Emily twisted around as the smile grew on her face; the holes from her missing teeth became visible. Looking into the water Emily saw something moving. A dark shadow moving in a swift motion. Just as she was about to investigate, her mother cried out again.
“Emily, come get some lunch.”
“Okay mommy.” Emily responded.
Emily made her way back to the shore. Stomping in the hot sand every grain stuck to her soggy feet. A slight breeze hit the water droplets on her skin, which made a chill run up her spine. When she reached her mother she was sitting cross-legged removing a messy peanut butter and jelly sandwich from a zip lock bag.  Emily took a seat on the hot pink beach blanket practically on top of her mom. Emily’s mother handed her half of the sandwich and they both began to chow down. Some how Emily managed to get grape jelly all over her hands. Her mother was laughing at her while wiping the stickiness off her hands. Emily rummaged around in the cooler and found Saran Wrapped slices of watermelon; it was her favorite.

Emily finished lunch and went back into the water. She was pretty far out; even standing on her tippy toes she could barely touch the bottom. In the corner of her eye she saw more dark shadows waving in the water. The sea weed forests hypnotizing her, she stood still and starred at them. She noticed a shining gold oval resting on the top of the sand just beside the seaweed. She went down to grab it. Swimming down toward the treasure her naive 5-year-old mind forgot to gulp some air before she began her investigation. Struggling to breath she kept pulling her self toward the bottom.

Emily’s mother looked up from her book and searched out the water. No sign of Emily. Her mother’s heart began pounding. A worried look was painted on her face.
“Emily!” she cried out as if looking for a response.
A near by lifeguard heard her screams of terror and ran to help. Her mother just pointed to the water. Air bubbles started to rise to the surface, and the lifeguard began to sprint.

Emily grabbed the golden necklace, just as all the oxygen was stripped from her lungs, as an arm reached out and grabbed her. After being pulled to the surface her limp body was carried to the shore. With the necklace still clenched in her fist she was set down on the beach blanket. Tears running down her mothers face she wrapped Emily in a towel. The lifeguard comforted Emily’s mother. Sitting by her self Emily opened her small fist and observed the golden treasure. It was a locket engraved with the words “to my love.” Emily opened the locket and found a picture of her self, starring back at her.