Yuri Koupenov
Describe an event from the past, that brought out the best of you.
 
        I jumped from the bed and left the room noiselessly on toes.
        “Yuri, hurry up!” my friend was whispering urgently. “Be careful not to wake them up”.
        “Are you sure we should do that?”
        “C’mon chicken, you are grown enough to do what you want”.
        As we were descending to the beach, I felt my heart sinking within me. I was only six years old, and this was the first time I had dared to defy my parents’ orders. But I did not want to expose myself with Val. He was two years older than I was, strong, with curly hair. His skin was brown from the scorching sunbeams. He was a kind of person, who can inspire confidence even in the greatest cowards. I was not one of them, so I tried to overwhelm my fear and to show him that I had guts to endure severe trials.
        Nevertheless, by the time we reached the beach, I was seized with horror. The sky was dark and covered with clouds. They looked like guards, keeping the sun in a cage, impeding the sunbeams to penetrate through their stiff bodies. The beach was deserted and dreary. Only a few people were jogging with their dogs in this early and chilly morning. I could hardly see the lighthouse, because of the fog, and the only thing I was hearing was the perturbed shriek of sea gulls. The sea was uneasy, with high waves, because of the sharp wind. They reminded me of an enormous, fearful jaw, ready to swallow every reckless little boy, daring to face it.
        “Jump in! Are you going to stay there the whole day?” My friend was already splashing in the water, waiting for me. By this time I was already a decent swimmer, and I was not afraid to bathe alone.
        But there was that feeling choking me inside. I was engrossed by the thought that I had disobeyed my parents’ orders and did something wrong. But my friend urged me to join him, so I finally gave up, took off my clothes and dived in the water. I started swimming towards Val. He was playing with waves deep in the sea. The crests were very high, and I found myself under the surface several times, swallowing some water. It was salty, leaving the taste of sea-inhabitants in my mouth.
After a minute, I reached my friend and felt pretty tired of this struggle with nature.
        “Let’ s go out, I don’t wanna swim anymore!” I was hardly keeping myself over the surface. I could not even step on the bottom.
        “Just a couple of minutes.” He seemed very fond of the high waves, and it was obvious to me that I could not induce him to go out of the water. So the only thing I could do was to swim nearby and wait for him to get tired. I didn’t wait long.
Suddenly, without apparent reason, Val cried out with pain and started drowning.
        “Help, I’ve got a cramp in my le…” and a wave covered him. After a second, he rose up above the surface, took a breath, and was lost again.
        “Help! Help! Somebody help!” At first I panicked and began screaming, but soon realized that it would not help Val, so I gathered my courage and dipped in the water. I spotted him right away. He was writhing with pain. His face had an expression of a man, struggling with  approaching death. With two fast strokes, I reached him, and raised his body above the surface. I was running out of breath, but at the same time, I was afraid to let him off, so I kept staying underneath.
        The next several minutes flashed like lightning in front of me. I felt a strong hand, embracing my waist, and I found myself lying on the sand. I couldn’t focus my mind. The only things I remember were approving words:
       “Good job kid, you saved your friend”.
      We were very lucky that a guy was jogging on the beach, heard our screams, and saved us. A minute later and both of us were finished. This event didn’t have any consequences for me, because my parents were so frightened that they did not even think about punishing me. But my friend is still horrified of the sea; he does not even want to think about swimming again. Now when I recall this story I feel proud of myself, because I was ready to sacrifice my life to save my friend. This event inspired confidence in my own capabilities, and helped me feeling more positive about the risky ordeals I had to take later in my life.
 

 
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