Wake Up Call

Chapter One: How it all Started

Hey guys! I know I haven't written on here in over a year and I'm super sorry! I haven't had much inspiration and I've been really busy lately so I haven't had time to start up a new story. But last night around three, I finally figured out what I wanted to write about! So here I am, sharing my story with you all :) I know I'm a little rusty, and the beginning of this story will most likely not be as exciting as I had hoped, but I promise things will pick up. Hope everyone is doing well! Enjoy reading!

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Returning home from a long stay at camp, the first thing I wanted to do was take a shower. After three months in southern California, I had experienced enough sand and unforgiving sunburns for one summer. The camp that I attended was located in San Clemente, California. The beaches were stunning; in fact they were just as beautiful as I had remembered them to be when I attended this camp as a little kid. The only difference the beach had taken was the new population of summer surfers and the fact that I had grown a couple feet and now had a different perspective of the view. Other than that though, I found the same welcoming sense that I had felt about ten years ago.

      When I was seven, my parents decided to take a trip out to Washington for a big case my father had been hired on. However, my sister and I weren’t as welcome as we had hoped to be. We were therefore sent on a little adventure of our own. Our parents had decided that it would be best for us to escape from our hometown of Brentwood, California and visit the ocean and the beaches of San Clemente which was located a convenient two hour plane ride away. My sister Ana and I, of course, had no say in the matter and we were shipped off only a few days later.

      The camp wasn’t as bad as I had expected. The staff was friendly and it was located conveniently right next to the ocean. Ana and I had begun to enjoy ourselves, playing in the ocean and meeting new people. However, when we realized that we would literally be camping for three weeks here, Ana’s opinion quickly changed. She was appalled at the idea that our parents would send her, the freshman honors student on her pathway of becoming a lawyer, to a camp where she would be expected to take two minute showers and sleep in a tent that, to her shock, had no outlets or air conditioning. The entire camp knew that she was dissatisfied with the entire situation, but most of us eventually learned to ignore it and continue on with what we had planned.

      Overall, the camp included three meal times, beach cruisers, plenty of sun block, water, and then, to our surprise, surf lessons. Mom and Dad forgot to mention that we would have the chance to actually learn to surf, and it was something that I was quick to pick up and learned to enjoy. Ana, on the other hand, refused to step foot in the water, most likely a part of her revolt against our parents for sending her to this God-forsaken place. She simply laid out her designer towel, slipped on her shades, and then tanned silently until we returned to camp for lunch. While Ana continued her pout, I met new kids from around the country whose parents had also sent them to the camp for the summer. They were all so inviting and I loved spending time there. So when Mom and Dad came to pick Ana and I up from camp, while Ana was vividly relieved, I couldn’t help but want to stay longer. Here people were honest and content without their materialistic things. They simply wanted to enjoy the company of those around them and surf. And ten years later, finishing my junior year in high school, that’s exactly the reason why I went back.

      Finishing my shower, I reminisced on the memories and new friends that I had made at camp.  However, instead of being a member at the camp, I had volunteered to council and teach surf lessons this year. It was an amazing three months and I had just as many stories to tell when I got back home as I did when I was seven. The experience was much needed and I was ready to start my senior year in a few days.

      After changing into a fresh set of clothes, I walked downstairs and into the kitchen to find something to eat while watching my mom make coffee, most likely for my father working in his study.