The Warm Water | Teen Ink

The Warm Water

October 18, 2023
By SarahOConnell BRONZE, Louisville, Kentucky
SarahOConnell BRONZE, Louisville, Kentucky
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world" -Mahatma Gandhi


The warm water surrounds me like a trillion warm hugs, submerging me in love. Bringing me in and not letting me go. The warm water right outside my beautiful beach house. Right on the coast of Ecuador where the sun hits exactly right all day long, warming the skin. Where the coconuts are always sweet and filled with liquid and the pineapple is forever juicy and flavorful. My beautiful beach house filled with peace and love. My beach house that smells like freshly baked vanilla cupcakes and newly sprouted wildflowers. My beach house that will always be filled with food, almost enough food to feed a village. The windows are tall and crystal clear. The floors have been through thick and thin but still manage to look brand new. The walls are drowning in paintings and pictures. The gorgeous paintings that look expensive, made by my sister. 
 Moments frozen in time are the focus on the walls. That’s all a picture really is. A moment that will forever, for the rest of eternity, be frozen in time. It’s funny how someone can be long gone but at the same time be frozen in time. Like they just decided to stop moving one day. They stay in the same position for the rest of eternity. The walls of my beach house are filled with photos of him. He was always smiling, even if he was having a bad day. Or that is what I have been told. I lost my dad when I was three and never really had the chance at a relationship with him. The summer after he died, we decided to go to Ecuador to visit family so we could take some time to heal. Ever since that summer of 2012 where we healed so much, we have been going every year. It fills me and my family with peace, knowing we can go there and not worry about anything but each other. The same house, the same time, the same people, nothing will ever be different, and I absolutely adore it. I find comfort in that. The people make me feel like I'm drowning in love, but I do not want to come up for air. It’s like my own little beach at home, but the water is love, and the sand is the stability my family gives me. 
Ever since I was 11, I would wake up early every morning around 4-5 and go to the beach to watch the sunrise. Right when the sun and sky say hello and merge into this beautiful ombre of colors. A pink, blue, yellow ombre that I could stare at for the rest of my life and never get bored. It’s a place I feel safe. I am at peace and have no worries. Nothing can reach me. The warm sun hits my skin while the warm water takes over my entire body as I run into the water to see nature's full beauty. I swim under and see the beautiful sea life beaming with joy. The turtles are dancing. The fish are in a conga line. The sharks are having a buffet. I can hear the water bubbles all around me. The warm water fills my soul and makes me full. The warm water surrounds me like a trillion warm hugs.  


The author's comments:

This piece is a love letter to that beautiful beach house on the coast of Ecuador. 


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