“Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh!” I harrumphed to myself as I sat with my family in our cramped and stuffy cabin.  “Why did this storm have to come up?!  And just when we had a game going too!” I yelled at nobody in particular.

“Don’t be so grumpy, Charlotte,” My mom implored me, “It’s only until the storm is over, and besides, it’s for our own safety.”

“I know.” I said exasperatedly, “But it’s just so stuffy down here below deck.  I just want to be back above playing hide-and-seek with the other kids like we were before this stupid storm came up.”  I kicked the bed as hard as I could, then squealed in pain and collapsed to the floor.  I began nursing my toe which now felt like it was on fire.

“I know you do honey, but it’s time for bed anyway,” my mom said sweetly,  “So why don’t you and Thomas get ready for bed?”  I grudgingly trudged away, limping a little bit, to get my pajamas on.  

When I had them on, I climbed into bed and fell into a restless sleep amidst the violent rocking of the boat.

The next morning the sea was calm.  I woke up to my family getting ready for the day.  Climbing groggily out of bed, I threw on a t-shirt and jeans before following my family as they went to get some breakfast.  It didn’t take long to eat, and then I was able to go out and play.  It felt so good to be out of that stuffy cabin.

We played for hours before finally getting bored and not knowing what to play anymore.  I ended up at the railing of the deck, staring out over the calm ocean.  I thought about last night and how mad I had been.  It seemed so stupid now to be mad about the storm, it was just something that happened and nobody could control it.  But I still didn’t like thinking about the stuffy cabin, so I switched my thoughts to thinking about the next stop on our cruise, Veracruz, Mexico.  The crew said we would be there late tonight or early tomorrow morning. I was excited to get off the ship and have some fun.

We woke up the next morning docked at Veracruz.  I was excited to get off the ship for the day and for all the things we might see.  After eating a hurried breakfast, we disembarked from the ship and our adventure began.  We went to so many cool places and so so many things that when it came time to head back to the ship I was so tired I could barely walk.

        We got back to the ship and headed for our cabin.  I collapsed in my bed as soon as I could and fell asleep almost immediately.

        The next morning, after having breakfast with my family, I ended up at the railing again just staring out at the wide expanse of ocean around us.  The sky was overcast and cloudy.  I didn’t know how I was going to pass the time.  Rain started to trickle down.  I liked the way it smelled and the feeling of a gentle trickle on my face, so I welcomed the rain as I stared out to sea.

        I was so lost in thought that it took me a minute to comprehend the call for everyone to go to their cabins because the storm was getting worse.  That minute that it took was too long.

I struggled to get back to my cabin, the boat tossing even more violently than the night before.  The deck was getting steadily wetter and wetter and slipperier and slipperier.  It was getting harder and harder to keep my footing and I was losing my fight toward the stairs to below deck.

“Help!”  I yelled, hoping someone would hear me. Surely my family had noticed that I wasn’t below deck yet, but how could they help me now?  If they tried, they would have the same fate as me.

I could barely see through the pouring rain.  Suddenly I made out a face by the stairs to below deck.  It was my father!

“Dad!”  I cried.

        “Charlotte!”  He called back.  I was almost there.  He was reaching out to grab me.  I was almost safe.  Just before our hands met, a huge wave swelled up and crashed over the boat.  It swept me off my feet and I was on my belly being pulled away from my dad very quickly.  I tried to call to him, but there was too much water.  I couldn’t see as I furiously scrabbled for a handhold, but there was none.  Nothing to slow my forward propulsion toward the edge of the ship.  There were railings, but the wave was so strong that it somehow got me over it I tried to scream again, but I only managed to get water in my mouth, then I was tumbling, down, down, down, into the churning sea below.

        I hit the ocean with a splash that probably would’ve been barely noticeable if anyone was even watching.  But nobody was, everyone on board the ship was trying to get sheltered from the storm.

        The first thing I registered was the cold.  It was bitterly cold water and I was frozen because of the shock.  I sank through the bitterly cold water, everything frozen.  Suddenly my brain must have registered that I was sinking and in mortal danger, it kickstarted the rest of my body which finally sprang into action.  I started swimming for the surface as hard and as fast as I could.

        I felt like I was swimming for hours.  I had no idea how far down I had sunk and that only added to the feeling of it taking hours to get up.  Even though it felt like hours, I realized later that it couldn’t have been, because I was still holding my breath and I hadn’t passed out from lack of air.

Just when it felt like I was about to implode on myself I finally broke the surface of the water.  I only had time to gulp down a few breaths of the humid, gelid, air before being plunged down into the water again.

        This time it didn’t take as long to resurface again.  I didn’t let myself get as far down before swimming furiously back up.  I struggled back to the surface, having a mental battle with myself every time I made my arms move.  I made it up to the surface and managed about two gulps of the frigid air before being pushed back under again.

        I made it to the surface again.  This time I managed a few more breaths than I had last time I had come up,  before being pushed under again.  I swam to the surface again and again being knocked back under every time almost immediately after reaching the surface.  Each time it became just a little bit harder as I struggled to get my breath.  It was so infuriating to have all my hard work to get to the surface pay off only a little bit and then make me have to repeat my work again and again to get such little reward.  But at least I was managing to stay alive.

        I wasn’t sure how much longer I would be able to stay alive.  Finally, to my great relief, the storm started to let up just enough so that I could keep my head above the water most of the time, even in my weakened state.

I was struggling to catch my breath while being tossed around by the waves.  I was a strong swimmer, but even I wouldn’t be able to last that much longer.  I started looking around, searching for something to hold onto to help keep me afloat.  I didn’t see anything.  I couldn’t see much because of the water in my eyes, and as far as I could tell, there was nothing out there to help me.  My strength waning, I struggled to get my breath.  It was a battle for each one that entered my lungs.  Then I got pushed under by another wave.

I have no idea how I managed to get out of that situation.  Whatever it was it was a miracle.  I’m sure that God’s hand was in it.

Just as my head broke the surface and I was drawing in a breath, my arm struck something, hard.  I recoiled from the hit and then I realized that it could be something that would help me.  I turned around to see what it was.  And through the water in my eyes and the rain which was still coming down fairly hard I managed to make out that it was a plank of wood floating on the water.

I threw my arms around it, praying that it would hold my weight.  It was a pretty good sized plank, probably about 4 feet long and 1 foot wide.

I hauled my body up onto it as much as I could with my quivering arms.  They were shaking like crazy but I used all my remaining arm strength to cling to that plank of wood.  I was not going to let go for anything in the entire world.  This plank was my life.

It was a bit hard to stay on because it was slippery, but when it’s either you hang on to an impossibly slippery plank of wood, or you fall into the ocean and drown, it makes it quite a bit easier to chose and hold onto the slippery plank.  Even though it was really hard to keep a hold of the plank, it was a lot easier then trying to stay afloat on my own.  I felt very grateful for this plank of wood.  It had to be a miracle too.  I was safe for now, or at least safer.