CHAPTER SIX

We stood there and watched as a wave of water rushed forward, reclaiming the bottom of the ocean. It was impossible to tell how big it was until it reached the first people—they were knocked over, submerged, and disappeared under the racing wave! People walking on the ocean bottom and on the beach began to run, but it was as if they were standing still or running in place as the wave just overwhelmed them and they were lost beneath the water!

“We have to run!” my father yelled.

“But we’re well away from the—”

My father grabbed my mother by the arm, cutting her off. “Just run!”

I grabbed her other arm and we started moving as quickly as she could manage toward the hotel. Other people, able to move more rapidly, raced past us, pushing the lounge chairs out of the way as they went. Others just stood there watching, and a few people were still staring out, standing there, or even walking toward the water. How dangerous could it be if people were walking toward it?

I looked over my shoulder and felt a rush of adrenaline as I realized that the wave was getting bigger and bigger and coming closer and closer! It had already filled in the entire ocean again and now it was racing up the beach! It was moving so fast that there was no way we would get to the building before it reached us! I had to fight the urge to just let go of my mother’s arm and run. I held tight, trying to help her move faster.

“We’re not going to make it!” I screamed.

“Keep running!”

I could hear the wave rushing up behind us and the roar was punctuated by the sounds of people screaming and yelling.

We were getting closer and closer to the hotel and safety—and then, I was knocked off my feet!

For a split second I was under the water, and then I broke the surface, surfing along on the wave as it raced toward the hotel. I braced myself as I hit the building and bounced backwards! I tried to stand up but I was hit by a wall of water and went underneath the surface again and was spun around. Then something pulled me to the surface. It was my father. He had my arm in a firm grip and he dragged me forward, banging me against something, until finally I thumped up onto a set of stairs. He kept pulling me up and I struggled to my feet.

I looked up. My mother was a few steps above me.

“Keep climbing! Don’t stop!” my father yelled.

I ran to my mother and took her hand and we scrambled up to the first landing of the open-air staircase as the water washed up the stairs behind us.

“Don’t stop!”

We made the turn and at last got to the second story.