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A Day At The Lake

An Experience With Sharks

By Darla M SeelyPublished 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago 3 min read
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The Petersen family lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They had three girls and three boys. Their names were Sandra: 15, Cheryl: 12, Leslie: 10, Larry: 8, Curtis: 7, and Joseph: 5. The family decided to go swimming and surfing in Lake Michigan. There were many people swimming and surfing that day. It was a nice Autumn Day. The sun was shining, and the temperature was 75 degrees. They brought a big picnic lunch that included fresh fruit, chicken, potato salad, macaroni salad, and their favorite sodas to drink. The boys had recently learned how to surf, and Joseph had recently learned how to swim.

Their morning swim went very well. There seemed to be the same amount of swimmers as surfers. There were family members watching them. After they had their picnic, they played a couple of card games they brought: Kings In the Corner and UNO Flip. They laughed and shared memories with each other when they played these games. They also watched the surfers while they were playing the card games. Some of the other people that were surfing and swimming also had picnics and played games. The Petersen's decided to play games with one of the families: the Gregersen's. They also had three girls and three boys about the same ages as the Petersen's. They got to know each other quite well during the time they played games together.

When they started surfing, they seemed to pick up the waves just right as all the surfers seemed to do. All of a sudden, Curtis apparently missed a wave and fell into the lake. He was unaware there was a shark close by. It was coming straight for him. He was not the fastest swimmer. Fear filled Curtis's eyes when he saw the shark's big eyes and jaws. The rest of the family was worried when they didn't see him surfing. He was taught to pray when he was lost or in in danger. He said a silent prayer to himself that the shark would not attack him. He swam as fast as he could to shore. As soon as he reached shore, he saw the shark right behind him. He let out a big sigh of relief. Of course he and his family were grateful he was safe. Some of the other surfers also fell in the water, but they were able to find their surfboards and continue surfing. These surfers were more experienced than Curtis since he had recently learned how to surf. One of his family members was able to find his surfboard.

Later they found out another boy had fallen off his surfboard, and he wasn't as fortunate as Curtis was. The shark bit him and gave him a big gash on his right leg. The family visited the boy, Randy, in the hospital. He was glad the Petersen family cared enough to visit him. Randy was in the hospital about a week. He received several stitches in his leg and had to wear a cast for a short time. Although Curtis narrowly escaped the shark, he wasn't afraid to surf again. He felt he would be protected again if he fell off his surfboard again. He felt that Randy would hesitate to surf again though after what happened to him. Curtis's parents asked him what went through his mind after he fell off his surfboard and saw the shark coming after him. He told them he remembered they taught him to pray whenever he was in danger. He said, "I knew I had to swim as fast as I could, or the shark would attack me. Thank you for teaching me the importance of prayer."

immediate family
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About the Creator

Darla M Seely

I love to write poems, crochet, take photos, and make scrapbooks.

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