South Carlsbad

One of the most significant events in my life was being caught in a rip tide at the beach. We set up camp on high ground, not to close to the water so that when the tide came in, our belongings would be untouched. As soon as we were able to set everything up, my siblings and I sprinted off into the dark blue vastness of the pacific. The time was about eight o’clock in the am now and the sun was nowhere to be found. Although the cold water gnashed at the skin of my siblings and I, we did not express our irritation and pushed on to deeper water where the waves were high. The first wave towered over us like a sky scrapper and seemed to scim across the dark skies above. Back and forth we went as if the limitations of time had no power over us or the great sea set before us.
As time went on, the day only grew darker, and with one last stroke of the current my siblings and I were swept onto the shore. My mother called to us and said that we would be leaving within the next twenty minutes. I said, " were leaving already" and she replied, "its 5 o'clock and we need to get dinner". As she was finishing her sentence I noticed to my right a bulging black object floating out to sea. Right then I realized it was my new wet suit and I had been so caught up in the excitement of the ocean earlier that day, that I had completely forgotten to put it on. Without wasting another second I began swiming toward it and was greeted by the cold dark water and ridged coral that tore at my feet. After a few seconds the pain ceased and the waves seemed to greet me with open arms only to cover up the deceit that lay ahead.
I swam faster and faster through the freezing water for I did not realize how cold it was until then and could not believe I had not come out of the ocean one time in the day. As the heavy waves crashed over me, I felt as if time and space were phasing through my natural consciousness. My eyes were fixed upon the suit and the coldness of the water was bringing me further and further from reality. Faster and longer I swam and it seemed the suit was racing away from me. The current was relentless, but I was not going to lose. It was true, the only thing lying between me and the suit now was pure will power. I thrashed harder and harder at the coarse waters and soon enough I came upon the sight of my new black suit.
It was now in range and without any thought I used every last bit of strength to get close enough for one final lunge. I thrust myself upon the suit, and to my surprise a dead and rotting seal! With both fear and disgust I began to panic. As I spun around I saw the most frighting sight and that was ocean. The only land I could see was the cliffs that seemed to be just high enough to see. A deep fear began to settle in me due to old shark movies and such.

When it seemed it could'nt get any worse I saw an even more terrifying sight, my little sister had followed me out. She was about half way to me and could barely keep her head above water. I saw the fear on her face and began to swim vigorously toward her, minutes that seemed like hours. Out of breath and need for a break, I looked up to gain a visual of Aly. To my dismay I had not come any closer than before and yell to her to stay where she was.
An indescribable silence came over what it seemed the entire coast line leaving my cries for help unheard. I never thought I would be having a conversation with death, but there I was, trying to keep my head above the ensnaring waters that were eagerly calling my name.

Many people say life flashes before your eyes before you die, and I believed that death was unfortunately a reality. I saw my parents in the distance calling my name, “David, where are you?” Hope seemed to be lost and my life began to fade as I was slowly swept further into the deep. I almost let go of everything, but just then I could see my father thirty feet in the distance in his heavy clothes swimming without any fear in his eyes straight toward me. I could see he wanted to call my name, but the waves silenced his efforts. I snapped out of my hopeless state for hope had not been lost yet.
When he reached me, he was fully out of breath and smiled at me asking if I was ok. I looked into his eyes and it was not fearlessness now, but fear that engulfed his entirety. He realized that he, not being a good swimmer could barely hold himself up in the relentless tide let alone me. In truth he played it off with another smile and said, “We’re going to be okay.” Honestly, he was not very convincing, but his efforts to break the tension and fear that we both carried was admirable. He pointed over to where my sister was and where there was only one head there now was two.

The water's seemed darker now and began to lose feeling in my legs. My father said, “Your mom stopped where Aly was to try and swim her back in.” We both knew there was no way I could swim back on my own, so together we tried to swim back. Our attempt to swim back was pathetic, so we decided to conserve what was left of our energy and stay put.
It felt like and eternity awaiting the outcome of our current perdicament and with the heavens growing darker my spirit sunk deeper. The current had begun to die down allowing visibility to the cliff side a little more and we both watched intently at the new found shoreline for any activity. Now I had long lost feeling in my legs and was now relying on the breath in my chest to hold me up; waiting to die seemed worse than dying at this point. As we watched intently, I saw two figures appear on the cliff side and with speed conquered the steep drop. Vanishing into the shoreline the two figures had disappeared. I dismissed it as seeing things do to the unreal thought of something surviving a drop like that and felt my body begin to give out.

I looked at my father once more as he continued his valiant effort to survive in this wicked sea, and realized my fight was lost as I began to drift into darkness. As I began to fall, I saw light come from the dark skies and a man appeared in the distance swimming towards us.
His arm grabbed mine and, with an unsurpassable force, pulled me from my icy tomb. He put me under his arm, grabbed my father’s shirt and began to swim violently at the battling sea. The strength of the waters, though intense, seemed to open up and lose their intensity to this man of the sea. He angrily cursed the sea and pulled us tighter into his grasp.

After what seemed to be an eternity swim I was no longer in the water, but in this mans arms and I thought to myself, “We're back?” Almost impossible, it seemed as if it were a dream as the sand came to greet my sight. I saw my sister and my mother now; they were next a man who quickly came to greet us. He helped my father and made sure he was ok. The man carrying me said, “You will be okay now”, and before we could thank them, they vanished back up the cliff side as if they had never been there.
My family and I walked back over to our small beach camp and decided to rest before we headed back up to our camp site. I sat and had a few deep breaths and began to watch as my parents began to share their stories about their survival and the two men. My sister went to sleep under her towel, and my little brother's seemed to be oblivious to all that had taken place.

I began to imagine who he could have been, the man who saved my life that day. As I looked up into the fullness of the sky, the clouds began to quake as if some GREAT force were behind them and in seconds the glorious rays of the sun shone through.
The sun began to set over the horizon and it was finally time to depart. As we made our way back up the steep trail I looked back once more to gaze upon my now cowardly enemy. The sea seemed to be calm now and the darkness faded from the waters almost to bring about some apathetic feeling towards me. My mother called back to me to hurry up and we continued on.

Later that night I could not help but overhear my mother tell my father, “I believe they were angels”, and my father nodded his head in agreement. I contemplated the series of events that occurred that day, and the only explanation for the miraculous rescuers was that they were angels sent by God.

Since this experience, my mind has been dramatically changed. I now know just how fragile life truly is. My parents went looking for those men in hopes of thanking them later that night, but they were nowhere to be found. Angels