Linda Ulleseit

White Water by Amrita

Round and round and up and down and upside-down we splashed, spinning and tumbling on that hot, summer day in Disney World, Florida.  The sun beat down on us like a hammer, constantly pounding, again and again.  Some people were screaming, some were laughing, some were barely wet, and some were thoroughly soaked.  But I didn’t notice any of those things, for all I could focus on was the enormous drop up ahead, that monstrous waterfall, that terrifying cliff of H₂O.  It was not the same for my sister, Anisha.  She had not turned around yet, but there was a daring fire in her eyes.  She was soaked to the bone, but on that day, about the hottest day summer had to offer, any kid would have loved it.

Mom turned pale.  Dad gripped the handlebars tight. Anisha smiled a wide, toothy, daring smile full of courage and bravery.  At first, it felt like I was soaring in the air.  “Oh, how wonderful this is!” I thought, as I hit a Titanic pose.  That marvelous feeling ended abruptly and was replaced with that thrilling, gravity-defying sensation in my stomach as we plummeted down.

SPLASH! we landed.

“Isn’t this awesome!” my sister yelled above the roar of the white water.

“Yeah!” I screamed.

“What?” my sister bellowed.

“This is cool!” I roared back.

SPLOOSH! The raft behind us landed.  Both landings covered me with a mountain of water.

SPLOSH!  The next raft landed, wetting us again and soaking the people in the raft behind us.  The force of the landing pushed us forward at a tremendous speed.  I was now dripping from head to toe, and so was everyone else in the raft.   Mom and Dad laughed.  Anisha giggled.  I smiled.

You see, I don’t laugh or smile like many other people.  Most of the time, I don’t smile just by moving my mouth.  When I smile, there is a twinkle my eyes.  Only those who know me very well can tell when I smile.

When I laugh, it sounds a lot like I am wheezing.  So at the moment, I was twinkling and wheezing and giving high-fives to everyone in the raft.  After all that, we just sat there.  “At last,” I thought, as I knew that the frothing, foaming, and bubbling white water with its huge drop towered behind us.  I heard some people screaming and I heard some laughing.  I felt the sun beating down on me like a hammer, gleaming on everybody’s wet faces, and I saw its golden, rippling, reflection in the calm water, as we lazily drifted toward the end of this fantastic, wet, river rafting ride.