3, 2, 1 Splash!
By Nikki R
Grade 5 ? Spring 2019

3, 2, 1 Splash! My fins pierced through the water’s surface. The waves rocked me like a baby. Salty sea water splashed into my mouth coating my tongue. The air was warm and the wind was blowing.

?Everybody get ready to go underwater.?

It was the second day of my diving exam. My family, the Divemaster and I were on a dive boat in Pattaya, Sattahip. We were on the dive boat with a few other people from different dive schools.

3, 2, 1, Splash!

I took a step off the back of the boat and into the water holding my mask and regulator (the thing that divers have in their mouths to help us breathe underwater.) The tank made me feel like I was carrying the earth on my back.

Splash!

Splash!

Splash! My dad, my brother, and the Divemaster jumped into the water one by one. Everyone was in the water bobbing up and down.

?We are going to swim over there.? said the Divemaster, gesturing with his hand.

We turned over onto our backs and started kicking with our fins over to the little plastic box connected to a rope.

?Okay, we are going down here. Grab onto the rope while you?re going down, and don’t forget to equalize your ears too.? instructed the dive master.

?Okay!? my brother and I replied.

I reached underwater grabbing the rope. The Divemaster showed the okay signal, and everybody did it back to show we were ready to go underwater. We all deflated our diving vest and descended, holding the rope.

It was quite beautiful underwater. The visibility wasn’t really good but the fish and coral were amazing. There was a giant cluster of sea urchins on the spot were we went down. I glared at the sea urchins. The sea urchins glared back at me with their beady little white eyes. I looked away from the little black spikey balls and looked at a better sight instead, the fish. As I was enjoying the fish and the coral, I felt a tap, tap, tap, on my shoulder. I swung around to see the Divemaster behind me.

?Yes?? I thought I said. I really said ?yeass??

The Divemaster pointed at a piece of ?coral?. I thought he wanted me to grab the piece of coral so I reached down to grab it. I knew touching things that are underwater is something a diver should never do, but I thought the Divemaster wanted me to take it back onto the boat so I reached down anyways. When I reached out to grab the ?coral?, the Divemaster quickly pulled my hand away.

I was so confused. What? Why can?t I touch that piece of ?coral? I wondered.

As thoughts swam around in my head, out of the corner of my eye I saw the piece of ?coral? move. As the ?coral? started moving a little, it started resembling a fish so I stared at it even harder than before and that’s when I saw a gray, bumpy medium sized fish. It was a stonefish!

?Eeeeaya satonefi? I yelled underwater. I was trying to say, ?it’s a stonefish!? Again, I forgot I was underwater. When I calmed down, I finally figured out that the reason the dive master pulled my hand away was because the stonefish was poisonous!

When we got back onto the boat, my mom helped me take off my equipment.

?Mom, I have to tell you something.? I said grinning.

I took a deep breath, a giant tree of happiness was planted in my chest. I sat down, and looked at my mom. Words poured out of my mouth like water. I told my mom about the stonefish, the coral, everything. She listened patiently. When I finished she smiled. She gave me a big hug,

?Good job, I’m so proud of you.? she whispered.