Personal Narrative: Rowing Through Fear

Rowing Through Fear

I walked slowly towards the water as if trying to deny an inevitable death. Before I know it, I am shaking as I get on my gear, hardly able to hear what anyone was saying over the crashing of rapids. All of this equipment on me makes the impression as if we were going to space. I get my single person boat and start paddling into the river. The smell of plants and the overgrowth of algae are pleasing as I calmly ride the current. I spot rapids coming up in the distance, and I get utterly nervous. My brother, Ben, is to the right of me looking just as anxious as I am. As we approach the whitewater rapids, I am not gaining any bit of confidence.

I try to calm myself down by humming and looking at the spectacular scenery

I laughed in response and said, “Ha, you wimp” as I strolled down the river.

Then further up the river, I see another set, almost twice the size of the first one. I felt like I could raft down Mount Everest at this point, but maybe I was a little too cocky. Our group instructor told us that for this one we will need to hold on tight, but he said it in a calm tone, almost relaxing to my ears. I thought that he was just trying to follow the safety contract, so I didn 't feel the need to do it. Then as we approached the roaring of the second set of rapids, my confident smile slowly turned to a worried frown. I knew from that point on, I was about to regret not

It felt like a tsunami hit me in the back of the head, sending me into rocks and boulders. I am trying to get my feet in the safety holds, but it was too hard to do jumping around and crashing into everything. Then it seems to have ended, but I soon realize that it was like the eye of the tornado. I take this time to put my feet in the foot-holds, but I fear it won 't make a differenceI . We approach the final rock, and I try paddling around it. The current is too strong, and I go flying directly over it. My boat flipped over in mid-air, and I am submerged under the water for what felt like an eternity. I make it above the water, just to be hit by the boat coming in behind me. It knocked me right in the head, leaving a bruise. I am still grateful to this day that nothing worse happened, for if I were to be knocked out, I would have most certainly drowned. His boat sent mine down the river without me, while I was trying to stay above the water. A different person brought me aboard their boat and help me retrieve my raft. After that, we calmly continue on to shore, where we had food and soda set up for our pleasure. My parents then asked me where I got my nasty bruise, and to avoid my parents from exploding and getting mad at the person who gave me it, I innocently respond by saying, “What