< by Brennan >

The wave came in slow motion. Suddenly it didn’t feel like the tube was flying through the water. Everything stopped.

My helmet was on tight. My life vest, by this point, was almost up to my ears, the wind and speed pulling it almost off.

As my tube collided with the wave, the world was flipped upside down. All I could hear was R Kelly as the sun was closer, then gone, then closer again. I believe? I could.

The camp counselors challenged us all to hold on for dear life. My hands released like I was holding hot irons and flailed like a bird in a jet stream.

Some said they thought I hit 10. Some say 15 feet. I hit the water like a meteor from space. The life vest, and My swimsuit, never had a chance.

I was floating naked with a helmet, stinging from the impact, and thinking this was the coolest Christian youth group camp I had been to. I almost touched God.