I had only tried to water ski once even though my brother was a pro at it and we’ve seen a lot of YouTube videos of it together. The only other time that I had ever tired skiing was when I was about ten, and my brother had been trying to teach me. I had slipped and fallen into the sea, and the beach is a public one, no one would get me out of the sea on time.
The incident had been a traumatic experience for me, and no matter how hard my brother tried, I never agreed to get on a ski again. That was ten years ago, and right now, it seems like ages ago.
It was weekend and Nancy, and I was at the beach to wind off the week’s stress.
While watching those that were skiing, I had been bragging to Nancy when a man who I didn’t know was a driver at the beach overheard me. He had offered to take me on for free, and I had had no choice but to accept. Plus, I wouldn’t let an opportunity to impress my new girlfriend go by, would I?
I had seen my brother go at it at least a dozen times so I was quite sure that I would be able to pull it off.
I was handed a life-jacket which I wore.
“You guys have a lifeguard here, right?” I asked, unnecessarily. I was developing cold feet, and I just wanted to be sure that the chances of me drowning would be minimal.
“Definitely,” the driver replied and gave me a knowing smile.
For a moment, I could have sworn that the driver knew that I was a novice at skiing.
I was handed the combination ski next, and I stepped in it like as a pro.
“Would you like to tie the two skis together?” the Driver asked, eyeing me curiously.
My brother didn’t tie his skis, but as I said, he was a pro at it.
“Well…” I mumbled.
“The fact that you are not sure means you need to tie the two up then, the driver said simply.
I looked back at Nancy, and she waved back at me. I quickly swallowed my pride and entered the water before tying my Skis on board. If tying the Skis would prevent me from being humiliated today, I would gladly do it. After tying the Skis, I gripped the rope securely with my hands and held the role with my two hands next to each other the way I’ve watched my brother do.
I pulled my knees to my chest with my arms around my knees and the rope between the skis. At this point, the life jacket was the only thing that was keeping me floating as I was already totally immersed in the water. I brought my knees to my chest with my arms around the outside of my knees, hugging them.
I kept the two skis close together and pointing straight upwards and brought the skis up out of the water.
“Hit it,” I yelled to the driver, and I leaned back to allow the jet boat to pull me out of the water. I was tempted to bend my arms to pull myself up, but I knew that it was likely to cause me to lose my balance. I also kept my knees bent all through so I could absorb any burps.
“Go, Carl,” I heard Nancy yell from behind me and I chuckled. I doubted if she would have been saying the same thing if she had known that I’m not good at skiing.
I looked at the driver, and the observer and I relaxed a little. With the two there, I couldn’t possibly drown. I gave the driver thumbs up, and he increased the speed of the boat.
“YASSSSSSSS!” I shouted with excitement. It felt so good to move on those Skis with the mass of water all around me. It was exhilarating and incredible.
We had been going at this speed for a while before I started to become a little more daring. I gave the driver thumbs up again, and he increased the speed again. The boat was now going at a very high speed, and I could feel my adrenaline pumping.
I knew it was dangerous to go at such a high speed because I was not quite experienced at skiing, but I didn’t care. I wanted to enjoy the moment and absorb it.
I was so absorbed with the euphoria of skiing that I didn’t realize when I got up on my feet instead of bending my knees. At that moment, the ski hit a bump, and I fell backward. The ski was already coming straight for my head, and before I could think of dodging it, I had been hit on the head by the Ski.
“Ouch!” I cried out.
The observer must have told the driver that I had fallen because I felt the speed of the boat reduce. I was finally able to get up on the ski again, and this time, I decided to be humbler. I gave the driver the thumbs down, and he reduced the speed of the boat.
After Skiing around for what looked like an eternity without suffering any more fall asides the first one, I decided to call it quits. I patted my head which was a sign that I was ready to go back to the dock.
Once my feet were back on dry land, I heaved a sigh of relief.
“Wow!” that was quite good,” the driver said to me, and I smiled back.
“I could have sworn that that was your first time at first,” he continued.
“Actually, that was my first time skiing,” I said to him.