Kapiolani Community College
Diamond Journal 2003Fall

Angel at Del Mar Lagoon
Gina Evans

As a child I loved playing in water. Every summer since I was four years old my mom would take me to the Del Mar Lagoon in the Huntington Beach area. It was always just Mom and me, spending time together, until one summer I decided to invite a friend to come along with us. I knew that it was going to be a fun day, but I didn’t know it was going to be a day that I would never forget.

It was a Sunday morning in Long Beach, California, and I woke up earlier than usual, partly because the sun was beaming through the window and warming my face like a heater used during wintertime. I was only in first grade and six years old, but I was very excited that I didn’t have to go to school for the next couple of months. Summer was in and school was out! My mom and I had set up so many plans for that summer. One of our special outings was to head out to the Del Mar Lagoon and go swimming all day. For the first day of summer break, that’s what we did.

I had invited Yara, a girl my mom had been babysitting since the beginning of the year. We both were going to Sutter Elementary School together. She was a year younger than I was, but we got along fairly well. I told her about Del Mar Lagoon and she was just as excited about going as I was.

From my bedroom I heard “Unforgettable” by Nat King Cole playing on the record player in the living room. I got out of bed to see if anyone was there, but I saw no one. I heard voices coming from the kitchen, so I passed the living room and walked straight into the kitchen. I saw my mom, already dressed in her blue swim shorts and white T-shirt, standing at the kitchen counter, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Yara and me. My dad was sitting at the dining table in his pajamas, keeping my mom company. He had a tired look to his face, probably from staying up late again and playing with that silly chess board game of his. “Gina, why don’t you go get your mom her ice cooler,” he said, pointing towards the kitchen door.

Without thinking twice, I stepped outside, away from the shade of the house and into the sunlight. I faced the sun with my eyes closed and felt its warmth sink into my skin. A feeling of peace came over me as I stood there. Then I reached down and grabbed the cooler that was at the end of the steps and brought it into the kitchen. My mom took it from me and as she filled it with sandwiches and Coca-Colas, she asked me, “Aren’t you going to go get ready?” My heart pounding with excitement, I replied enthusiastically, “Yes, yes I am.”
I raced to my room and closed the door. I opened a drawer and dug through my clothes looking for my bathing suit, but didn’t see it in there. Then I opened another drawer and another and dug through them like I was shoveling dirt. I was down to the last drawer. I kneeled down in front of it and opened it carefully. A feeling of desperation started to build.

I began going through some clothes again. Only this time I took my time and went through my clothes calmly. As I moved my Mickey Mouse pajamas to the side, I found it. I changed into it as fast as I could, and with my bathing suit tags still sticking out, I opened the door and went into the living room to call Yara.

I picked up the phone and dialed Yara’s number. After the first ring, her mom answered. “Hello,” she said.

“Hi, Mrs. Rodriguez. Is Yara ready?” I asked excitedly.

“Yes, Gina. She’s been waiting since 7:30 this morning,” she said calmly.

“O.k., my mom and I will be picking her up soon. We’ll just honk the horn when we get there,” I said.

My mom and I had everything ready. I had my change of clothing in my bag. My mom had the beach towels and the cooler filled with yummy sandwiches and sodas. Yes, sir we were all set. Dad went outside and put our things in the truck while mom checked her list to see if we’d forgotten anything. I gave daddy a kiss and hopped into the truck. Mom got into the driver’s side and we waved good-bye to dad as we drove off and joined the other vehicles on the road. We rolled up the windows and turned up the a/c, and in a few minutes the whole truck was filled with the aroma of Banana Boat Lotion.

When we got to Yara’s house, my mom honked her horn once, and that’s all it took to see her excited face. She ran out with a plastic bag filled with clothes in one hand and a big opened bag of cheese Doritos in the other. Her braided pixie tails with ribbons at the ends bounced as she came towards us. Her face was round like a pancake. Her mouth covered in the orange cheese powder of the Doritos. I opened the door and welcomed her.

“My mom says I should share my Doritos with you. So, do you want some?” she said.

“Cool!” I replied, while reaching into the bag of chips.

Yara closed the door on her side with her Doritos fingers and left orange-like marks on the handle. My mom noticed the stains and didn’t say anything except, “Are you girls ready?”

We screamed “Yes!” with excitement, and with that we were back on the road.

While my mom drove us to the beach, Yara and I played patty cake and sang “Where is Thumpkin.” It was such a perfect day, perfect as any summer day can get. Time went by pretty quickly, and before we knew it, we were looking for a place to park at the lagoon parking lot.

“We’re here, girls,” my mom said enthusiastically.

“Yippee!” I added.

We found a parking spot under a tree. As soon as my mom finished parking, Yara and I jumped out of the truck and headed towards the lagoon. When our feet reached the warm sand, we stopped to wait for my mom.

It was still early when we got there, and yet the sun was strong. My mom trailed behind us with the ice cooler and our bags of clothes. Once her sandals touched the sand where we were waiting, she stopped and put the cooler down for a second. With her hands on her waist, she took a long deep breath. A smile formed on her delicate pale face and a distant look set in her eyes, as if she were remembering some treasured memories. Then she walked over to a cool spot underneath a tree and settled our things.

“Come here, girls,” she said, bending down and reaching into my bag. “Let’s put on some more lotion before you go out into the water.”

She added, “Yara, you first. Come here.”

Yara walked towards my mother as though she was getting ready to get punished for something she did wrong. Yara never liked putting on anything that smelled good. If she could have, she would have worn the same clothes all her life.

“Come on, Yara,” my mom said in an inspiring tone. “The sooner you put it on, the sooner you can go.” Yara finally reached my mom and my mom then put lotion on her.

I was next, and I was ready. I stood perfectly still so I wouldn’t prolong the process. As my mom smothered me with the lotion, I stared at the lagoon. The water glistened with intensity from the sun’s reflection and gave the impression of thousands of floating stars on the surface. Somehow, from where I was standing, it had a magical appearance.

“O.k., all done,” mom said. It was as though she had said, “Get ready, get set, go! “ I was off with Yara. We both screamed at the top of our lungs, racing towards the water. We splashed into the water, spraying water all around. Then suddenly, we noticed as we bounced around that some parts in the sand were higher and some other parts were lower. Yara held my hand as we slowed down and walked more cautiously. We walked further in and the water began to rise to the level of our thighs. Then we walked in more and the water went down to our knees. We stepped in deeper and it went lower than our kneecaps. I then took a larger step and not feeling the sand beneath the water, I fell into a large hole, pulling Yara with me by the hand.

The next thing I knew I was under water, and I couldn’t see a thing. The water covered me completely from head to toe, and all I could see was black all around me. The moment my feet touched the bottom, I jumped up and managed to get a quick breath of air from the surface. I tried jumping again when Yara came towards me like a scared cat.

She grabbed me by the arm, and I pushed, pinched, and scratched her hard to get her away, but she managed to get on my back and put her legs around on my shoulders. She sat there in a frozen position, while I tried to jump to get some air again. She just sat there while I stretched my arms out in hope that someone would see me. The witch just sat there!

After a couple of seconds, I tried pushing Yara off again, but with no success. I even dug my nails into her skin in desperation that she would call out for rescue, but it didn’t work. I struggled some more to get her off me, but I was beginning to get tired. I was underwater with no help, while she was up there breathing the sweet fresh air that I so longed for.

Defeated, scared, and running out of air, I was panicking more now. I tried to reach out to the surface one more time. This time I could feel the cold wind pass through my fingers, and I knew that at least my hand could reach the surface. Excitement filled my heart, and so I splashed and splashed and opened my mouth to cry out, but bubbles came out instead and water went in. I quickly swallowed the salty water that got in and shut my mouth again. The taste was like a bottle of salt poured down my throat. I tried once more to remove Yara from my back but she didn’t budge. I could not believe she was not doing anything to get help!

Suddenly my shoulders no longer felt heavy and my feet weren’t so deep in the sand anymore. I felt pressure in my armpits and someone lifted me out of the water. Then I felt a big chest against my body as one big arm held me up from my behind. A kind masculine face appeared in front of mine as I finished rubbing water from my eyes. “I got you, ” he said in a gentle voice. Then he asked me, “Are you all right?”

I was in the arms of a complete stranger. I couldn’t answer him. I was scared, coughing and still catching my breath. I heard my mother from afar screaming, “Gina!” “Gina!” a frantic tone in her voice. She ran towards me and grabbed me out of the man’s arms and carried me away to where she had all of our belongings, under the tree. She reached for a towel from my bag and wrapped me in it. As she picked me up again holding me tightly, I turned to look for the man who had rescued me.

I could see him clearly now as he turned away from the area in which he had held me for a second. He was thin, moderately built with dark skin, and as he jogged back to his post, his red shorts made him stand out from the rest of the crowd. When he reached his post, he sat in his chair and faced the lagoon. Not once did he look our way in search for some recognition. This stranger had saved my life, and I had not even thanked him.

My mom didn’t thank him either. She got Yara, who was waiting at the shore safely, and me, and we packed up our things and left. Neither mom nor I ever mentioned what happened that day to my dad until a few years ago. I guess subconsciously we didn’t want to re-experience the whole event.

Now whenever I go to any place that allows swimming and I see a lifeguard watching people from his post, I think of the man who saved my life and I smile. I think of how many lives he may have saved. I wish I had learned that man’s name. It would be nice to let him know that I greatly appreciate what he did for me.