Labor Day

The ocean water is so cold I feel as if I am suffocating. It feels as if my chest is compressing, being forced inwards, collapsing my esophagus upon itself. I feel as though I must suck in deep lungfuls of air to fill the cavity inside that is ever shrinking. My feet are starting to go numb, slowly becoming so cold they will turn into a block of ice and fall off, or am I imagining that? I stare up at the bright sun beating overhead and the clear skies. It truly is a beautiful day I remind myself, and it feels so good to cool off in this delightfully frigid ocean water. I glance back towards the shore to where my mother stands guard, and flash her my biggest smile. This water really is so enjoyable, it’s a shame no one is in here to enjoy it with me.

My lungs appear to be functioning fine again. I glance back towards my mother once more. She is calling to me, frantically beckoning for me to come out. Well, if she insists.

“A seal. Sorry honey.”

Earlier that morning as we sat over breakfast, watching the water glide in the distance, we discussed the recent shark sightings of the week. As we made our way down the beach we passed the purple flag that lapped in the wind, the stylized shark warning. At lunch my mom showed me her new tracker app, Sharktivity, that displayed the coast of the Cape dotted with tiny white circles.

“That’s alright, the sharks will just have to find someone else to be their juicy snack for today.”

A few weeks later I sat at my kitchen table having just finished dinner. The turkey meatballs my mother made sat heavy in my stomach, and all thoughts of summer had, regrettably, left my mind. My mother sat scrolling through her Facebook feed as I pondered which dessert would be most worthy to end the night.

With a stricken face my mother showed me a Washington Post Article she had just seen. “A man dies Saturday afternoon from injuries suffered during a shark attack off Cape Cod, authorities said, the first fatal shark attack in Massachusetts in eight decades.”

My chest is compressing, collapsing, suffocating.