It was snowing in Sandusky, Ohio, but that didn’t really matter, because I was in the indoor water park, Kalahari. It was around noon, and I had just gotten done eating with my family. I was getting bored, so I said, “I’m going  belly boarding.” Kalahari has an artificial wave generator where you surf on your stomach. It’s actually quite fun once you get the hang of it.

My dad, hearing that, said, “Alright, I’ll go too.” And off we went.
Now, keep in mind I hadn’t ever done this before, and I was still really awkwardly tall and scrawny back then ( I was 11 at the time I believe). And I was afraid I would hit my knees on the floor (which I did by the way).
Once we got there, I got in line, and my dad stood out of line waiting for me to go on. But, just then a group of girls got in line behind me. Most of them were blonde and had nice tans , and I was still taller than them even though they were a couple years older than me.was trying not to notice them, failing doing so. However, they paid no attention to me at the time because of my scrawny awkwardness

But, just then, It was finally my turn in line.The lifeguard guy gave a quick run through of how to do it. You jump into the water, belly first with the board. Seemed easy enough, right?
So I said, “okay.” And I jumped….. and failed miserably. The first few seconds, I was doing good. It was a thrill and it gave me a rush of adrenaline, but there was a lot of water getting into my eyes and lungs, so then I toppled over and fell. It felt like I was drowning, but I was in really shallow water and I couldn’t get up.

But, get this. When I finally did get up…. I felt a cold wind in places cold wind wasn’t supposed to go. I felt, somehow freer. And when I looked down, my swimming shorts fell down!  And, I was facing the girls! They were giggling and pointing, and my face suddenly became as red as a beet.

I was still in shock, so it still didn’t occur to me to use my hands to cover my body. When it did, I turned away from the girls, so now my bottom was showing instead, and my *cough* other areas were facing two lifeguards at the bottom. ( Thank god they weren’t girls). I was struggling to get my pants on and tied. They were filled with water, and  I was still sputtering and coughing 

After what seemed like a millenium, I finally did just that. So then I ran out of there, to my dad, who, sadly had seen the whole dilemma.

We were walking in silence, when my dad said, “Those were some cute girls, huh?” Then he winked and ran off to go find my mom.