I was reluctant as I lifted my dragging feet onto the ledge of a shining white boat. My imagination started to soar as I finally sat down awaiting the rickety boat ride. What have I gotten myself into? I knew that once I was on that boat, there was no turning back. I was officially trapped with no way to get out of it. My stomach flopped up and down matching the rhythm of the sea.

As the boat attained more speed, I turned my head and glanced back at the dock. I wished I could be standing there watching the boat disappear into the horizon rather than watching the dock disappear. The boat began to slow down as I saw the captain bustling around. I could see his mouth moving and I assumed that he must be saying something, but there was no word that I could hear coming out of his mouth. His voice was drowned by howling waves and the sound of the relentless engine. The captain pointed to my brother Michael and my cousin Michael. I watched as I saw them walk toward the captain and slip into a harness. The seat looked like a red swing and I wondered how that would be able to save you from falling out of the sky.

The two Michaels proceeded to sit on the swings. For a second time, the boat began to pick up speed and the two boys were jerked back with a powerful wind. They immediately went high into the sky and their bodies could only be seen as a black blob from my point of view. I was so terrified that any second they would plunge into the middle of the sea. The idea that that would happen to me was even more terrifying. The amount of time that they spent flying in the sky is unknown to me. I was too busy thinking of what it would be like to die while parasailing. I had convinced myself that this was how I was going to die.

A substantial amount of time went by before I noticed the black blobs were looking more and more like figures of people. The two boys reached the boat in a matter of minutes.
“That was so cool,” screamed my cousin. “It was so relaxing I could have fallen asleep up there.”
Relaxing?? How could something so frightening be so relaxing? For all I knew, I was going to die. I also knew however, that I was next... and I was not ready to be next. My twenty-one year old cousin Patrick was sitting on the very edge of the boat. Apparently, he did not know that people, who get easily carsick, get easily sea sick. I stared at him while he pulled his head off the side of the boat and threw up the wonderful Nutella and Fluff sandwiches we all just ate. I was supposed to go up with my cousins Patrick and Daniel. Patrick was currently throwing up and Daniel and I were just watching him wondering if he would still be going up with us. The captain told him that he would most likely feel better when he actually got up in the air. So we all got our harnesses on and sat on the swings waiting for the air to carry us backwards.
My heart was beating so hard I could hear it, and I was afraid that everyone else might hear it too. I licked my lips and I could taste the salt in the air. My mind was now drowning in my own thoughts. I was terrified. Even words could not explain the emotions that were rushing past me. The boat jerked forward and I backwards. I closed my eyes pretending that I was on solid ground even though every second I was being carried higher and higher up into the air. I held onto the ropes for dear life and my eyes were hurting from squinting so hard. The next time I opened my eyes, I was flying. I wasn’t afraid anymore. The sea was a blanket underneath me and the parachute my pillow. It felt like a dream. Beneath me lay thousands of jellyfish. They were purple dots on a baby blue blanket. I could see so far it was unrealistic. This beautiful scenery could never be recreated or captured in a picture. It is one of those things you have to see for yourself to see the real beauty.

It felt like it had only been three minutes when I noticed that I was getting closer and closer to the boat. I wanted that moment to last forever. How could something so terrifying be so relaxing?