I remember the cool Pacific blue water creating a slight tingling sensation, as it lapped onto the shore, barely reaching the height of my ankles. I knew at that exact moment that the 13 hours it took to get to Oahu, Hawaii, were worthwhile. About an hour and a half later, I turned my head to see Darian, Dana and Josh walking up the beach. Even though they are not my relatives, we are so close that I consider them a part of my family. The last time my parents, my sister and I had been to the island of Oahu had been more than four years ago. I was amazed at how much my friend Josh had matured. Without thinking, I immediately ran up to them to say hello.
My Dad and Darian have known each other for a long time. They met at a magazine company, and instantly were good friends. Dana is Darian’s younger sister, and Josh is Dana’s son. Josh, my sister, Elena, and I always loved hanging out at the beach with each other. When we were little we were closer; we could just spot each other, and right away start playing where we left off last time. But as we grow older, it usually takes a few minutes for us to feel comfortable hanging out together.
"Elena they're here," I shreiked.
“Wait up! I’m coming,” she replied.
The hot sand burned the bottoms of my feet as I ran as fast as I could up the beach. All of us exchanged hellos, and talked for a while. Elena and I explained all the exciting things that had happened to us since we had last seen them all. The words seemed to pour out of our mouths like waterfalls. Afterwards, Josh, Elena, and I took a fire-truck-red pail and two fishing nets out onto the jetty to see if we could scavenge anything from the tide pools. The three of us climbed over hundreds of sharp rocks, which I learned are called “Ah-Ah,” in Hawaiian. We retrieved over ten sea mollusks; put them into the pail with sea water, sand, and some small, smooth rocks. We eventually found an unbelievable cave with a water blow hole, and some black crabs in it. But unfortunately, as if timed, the second we climbed down into the cave to explore, we heard our parents call us back to shore, so we could have some lunch.
“Guys come back to shore! We’re all going to Ola’s for lunch!” My mom shouted to make sure we could hear her. The long walk back to shore seemed endless. The three of us easily impressed the four adults with what we had found.
After a delicious lunch at Ola’s, Josh, Elena and I went snorkeling and then swimming. But sadly, after that we all had to go. Josh and Dana had to go home, and Darian had some errands to run. We said our goodbyes to each other, each realizing what a fun and adventure-filled day we had had. The fact that we would all see each other the next day wasn’t registering in our minds. But eventually we all left, going our own separate ways back home. That day was probably the most memorable day of my past summer. I’ll never forget it.
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