Trips to Lake Tahoe are like an ancient, sacred ritual for my family; much like some families that slice into a turkey at Thanksgiving, my tightly-knit family journeys to Tahoe annually. The beauty and majesty of nature draws us like bees to honey. The fresh water and high altitude makes my thoughts clear, and cleanses my soul. The yearly trip signifies the start of my year, and makes me ponder the changes and concurrencies of my life. Packing for the trip is like second nature for me now, and I memorized our path. We pass by familiar stores and gas stations as we make our way towards Tahoe. The drive there is always the longest part of our trip. The anticipation is too much to handle sometimes, and I end up getting lost in the nature. The …show more content…
I decided to take a dip in the emerald waters. The problem was that I have an abnormal persistent fear of deep water. On top of that, I had ventured out myself. Nevertheless, the sun struck like an arrow, which forced me into the water. At first, the swimming came naturally, but as the seconds turned into minutes I drew more weary. Across the lake, was a small island, several hundred meters away. I had decided to swim to it long before my skin ever touched the water. Lake Tahoe is big enough for small waves to form just like the ocean. Thus, it is easy to get swallowed up by the lake, without having the same fear of the ocean. Unknowingly, I continued towards the island, swimming with less and less intensity each second. Before long, my arms and legs were fatigued, and my breathing became increasingly shallow. Instinctively, I kept looking below me and found myself trembling at the sight of nothing but darkness. My fear of the dark unknown started to take over my body. My heart started to beat rapidly, my body was trembling with fear. Everything I had was lost in control and seemed unreal. The lake could have been here for centuries and I did not know what slept in the deep dark depths of this lake. I was absolutely terrified. Every instinct in my body was telling me to leave this place immediately. The only thing that kept me from swimming back to safety of shore was my extreme desire to explore the