Andy stood on the dock, unable to follow his friends into the shimmering ocean. They laughed and splashed around in the water, beckoning Andy to join them in their fun. But Andy’s feet were glued to the rough, wooden boards of the dock. Ever since what happened last week at the pool, Andy felt terrified to return to water of any kind, even the ocean.

It had been a perfect pool day. The sun smiled over the heads of all the 8th graders as they chatted with each other about this sweet class field trip. Andy was swimming in the deep end with his friend Claire when it happened. He realized how much soda he had consumed earlier today, and before he could stop himself, he peed. In the pool. He tried to play cool as if nothing had happened, but after a few seconds Claire remarked, “Did the water just get warmer?” She looked down and shrieked, “Oh my gosh, Andy peed in the pool!” The lifeguards blew their whistles and told everyone to evacuate the water. All his classmates stared at Andy and laughed, calling him mean, pee-related names. His face blazed crimson and he ran into the locker room to hide. Andy had never felt so embarrassed in his life.

Now, as Andy faced the sparkling water, he knew he couldn’t bear to experience anything like that ever again. But it was so hot, and the water looked so inviting. His friends saw him wavering in indecision and called out to him, “Andy, it doesn’t matter if you pee in the ocean! Everyone does it! You don’t have to worry.” Andy considered this and he realized that the salt water would wash away the pee and that nothing bad would happen. So he happily jumped off the dock and joined his friends in the water.

Andy paddled around for a little while, splashing his companions with the salty, green, chilled water. He started to sense that he had to pee, and his first instinct was to hold it in. But quickly he remembered what his friends had told him, so he let go and peed. He felt so relieved.