Lake Tomahawk

Chapter 4

One of the most recent memories I have is of going to Lake Tomahawk in the summer of sixth grade. I had only ever been to Land of Make Believe before so I was ready to have a great time.
The cool water rose up to my ankles, but immediately retreated back into Tomahawk Lake. I took a few more steps, making my way farther and farther into the surprisingly cold water, before fleeing back to the sand. Why is the water so cold? It is the middle of August! This is going to take forever to get used to! Once again I stepped into the water, this time farther than before, and stood waiting for the pins in needles in my feet and shins to subside.
“Ahhh!” My face contorted as I took a big step forward so the water was now up to my knees. I looked down at the water, which was brown and murky, but nothing I didn’t expect of a lake. I could hear screams of people going down the water slides in the in the distant and the shrieks of little kids running around in the area designated for swimming. Suddenly there was an odd grumbling noise, and a high squeak. I felt a pound of ice cold water fall all on top of me and yelled, “AHHHH!” I looked up and there was a giant, wooden bucket that had been filled with water only a few seconds ago.
“Why didn’t you warn me?” I questioned my dad, who was cracking up on the sand.
“Well, now that your all wet you can go on the water slides. Plus, I thought it would be funny!”
“Yeah, figures. Come on, let’s get Taylor and go on that water slide!” I pointed to a huge blue and yellow slide that was spitting out people one after another. “Taylor! We are going on the slides now! I’ll get the tube and meet you guys up there.” I raced up the hill that was made of concrete, leaving my aunt and mom behind with my youngest sister and cousins. As I ran up the hill, I grabbed the huge tube for all of us. I felt my feet start to blister and callus from my smooth, bare skin rubbing against the rough ground, but I did not care. When I got to the top of the hill, I turned right, toward my sister and dad who were already waiting on line.
“There are not even that many people on line! I love this place already!” I panted while handing my dad the tube. I haven’t been to that many water parks, but none of the lines have ever been as short as the lines here! After waiting for only about 2 minutes, we were at the front of the line, preparing ourselves for the ride. My dad handed the guy working the top the tube and he placed it in the water at the top. My dad got in first, so his back was to where we were about to go down. Then I got in, followed by my sister.
“You guys ready?” my dad asked. We both nodded as the guy pushed our tube and we were off. There was a sudden drop that made my dad scream, but after that it slowed down. We went left and right, and right and left, but the speed never picked up again. All too soon the ride was over and we were dumped into a circular pit with about a foot deep water and a pathway surrounding it. A man pulled our tube to the path so we could get out.
“That one was kinda lame!” I  said as I climbed out of the tube.
“Yeah, but probably because this is supposed to be the family one and the one for
people who can’t swim well,” replied my dad.I looked down at my right wrist and saw the neon red bracelet that allowed me to go on all of the slides. “We can try the other ones,” my dad suggested. All of us walked to land and put the tube on a conveyor belt that brought it back up to the pile.

“Hey Allyssa, look at that slide over there! The big black one, do you see it?” my dad questioned.

“Yeah, the one with huge turns and no opening at the top?” All of the other slides had openings at the top so you could see the sky and let the light in. Everyone except for that one. Uh-oh, he is probably going to want to go on that one out of all the other ones. Oh great!
“We should go on that one! Doesn’t it look like fun?” How did I know! Of course he wants to go on the scariest slide at the park! What else should I expect from him?
“Ummm, how about we go on some of the other ones first, and save that one for last?”
“Okay, you can be a big scardey-cat and go on the safe ones!” he joked. I value my life too much to go on that thing! My sister and I went on all the water slides, and then went on each of them again and again. I even got my mom to come on with me a couple of times, but it didn’t feel right. I could hear screams of joy coming from inside the slide of doom, and knew my day would not be complete without going on it at least once. So I reluctantly found my dad and told him I was ready.
“You want to go on the Black Hole? Okay, let’s go!” he said and we made our way back up the hill for the hundredth time that day.
“I am going on the slide under one condition; I get to ride in the back.” I claimed.
“If that is what you want. I bet the front will be more fun, but if that makes you happy, go for it.” We grabbed a double tube and walked all the way up the wooden stairs that separated the Black Hole from the 2 other water slides on this side of the park that required you to have a bracelet that said you know how to swim on this. While the line on the other lines had been really short, this one was extremely short. Only about five people stood between me and my death. Everyone else is smart enough to not come on this ride because they want to live! Within a minute we were at the front of the line and repeating the same ritual as before. We gave the guy the tube, my dad got in front, I got in the back, and dad asked,
“Are you ready?” Yeah. Ready to face my doom!
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I exclaimed, and we were off once again. But this time it was different. The light immediately faded, making it impossible to see your hand right in front of your face. There were turns and curves, bumps and slopes, and each one was even more unexpected than the last. And unlike the other slide, in this one we gained speed as we went.
“Wohoo!” my dad yelled.
“Dad! They can probably hear you!”
“So what? Let them hear me! Yeah!” I looked forward and I could see a small light at the end of the tunnel. Wow, this ride looked huge from the outside but it went by really  quick! The light grew brighter, and my eyes weren’t used to it so I was forced to close them. Suddenly I felt a trickle of water on my head and our tube left the slide and went soaring through the air, before coming to an abrupt stop when we hit the water. I went flying sideways off the tube, but my dad somehow managed to stay on. I attempted to touch my feet to the bottom, but it was nowhere to be found, so I treaded water until my dad pushed himself over with the tube.
“You have to admit, that was pretty awesome!” he exclaimed.
“Pretty awesome? That was amazing! Let’s do it again!”
“Ha, I new you would say that. Come on, back up to the top of the mountain!” I raced all the way back up to the top of the mountain and went on the Black Hole again and again with my dad. I didn’t dare go on it by myself though. That’s an adventure for another time!
Even though this was only a couple of years ago, I have still learned a lot from it. I know that I tend to fret about things that I don’t need to, like going down the water slide. But by having these little fears and being able to conquer them has helped me conquer some of my bigger fears and helped me mature. I pushed myself to go down the slide, and I realize that going down made me feel proud of myself for doing it. I also realized that even though I sometimes take advantage of my parents, they are always there for me just like my dad was. He didn’t push me to go down the slide, but instead waited for me to be ready. Him doing that for me may seem like no big deal, but some people don’t have parents like mine and even this little act of kindness would mean all the world to them.