White Water Bubbles

White Water Bubbles 
A narrative piece of the first rapid in white water kayaking, by Wren Davies

The leaves and twigs snap beneath my feet as I make my way through the forest. My knees buckle due to the weight that I am holding. I’m cold, wet, tired, and scared. I hear the bubbling sounds of a blender blending something frothy in the trees; the rapids are here, and it's time to ride them. I pull my kayak out of the forest and into the river, beside me my other group members are doing the same. We call ourselves the Yakkers, don’t ask me why, but it sounds silly and ferocious, ready to tackle the rapids head on. Now, I’m in my kayak, and I have to go first, the human guinea pig of the group. Immediately as I paddle into the rapid, I realize how powerful and unforgiving rivers are. I paddle and paddle but suddenly I hit a rock, the next moment I'm on top of it before tipping over into the water, and I realize I’m flipped over in my kayak in a rapid. This is my worst fear, yet I’m not scared, it’s peaceful being in a rapid flipped over believe it or not. I pull my skirt off my boat and swim up; I immediately have to do defensive swimming and somehow make it to the other side of the rapid where the rocky beach is. One of the instructors is yelling directions for me while my friend watches me swim and stumble to the beach before another person falls victim to the first rapid. I make it to shore and walk down the beach to my kayak that the instructor has put there before helping the other person. As I walk to my kayak, dripping wet and freezing, a new sense comes over me and I realize something. Water isn’t scary if you cooperate with it, and if you listen, it can teach you quite a bit.

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