Moiz+Manzoor

The Beach By: Moiz Manzoor Getting up to my alarm clock, I went to my sisters’ rooms to wake up my two sisters and my cousin. “Get up you lazy bums! We’re going to the beach in an hour. Nine o’ clock.” After eating our breakfast, we headed next to the laundry room to put our bathing suits under our clothes. We then left to go next door to our aunt and uncle’s house where everyone else was. Every year our relatives visit from Arizona. We take them to Six Flags and the beach. They stay for about 2 weeks to a month. “Hello?” I bellowed. “Is anyone home?” Hurrying back home to tell the others, I walked in and announced that no one was even awake. My older sister almost exploded with anger. This isn’t the only time. Last year they said 8 o’ clock. We left at 10:30. This happens almost every year. After an hour and a half we finally left. In the car my cousin Salman and I listened to our I pods while my cousin Mahin, who is our age kept blathering, “Let me listen.” And “Fine, go to heck!” Submitting to his cries, I gave my left ear bud to him. Upon arrival, we had to carry very heavy coolers. Setting our things down, next to an elderly woman, she commented, “A little close?” very sarcastically. “Yooou are too close,” Mahin answered back. When the lady moved away Mahin tried to throw sand at her. His Mom stopped him in his tracks and warned him that he would not be allowed to go in the water if he continued. “Fine Mamma, I won’t, but she is still obnosious.” “Don’t you mean obnoxious,” Salman chuckled. “Whatever. Let’s just go play in the water. I call the fire designed boogie-board. “That’s mine,” I explained. “Then which one is mine?” “You don’t get one.” “Screw you. I’m taking it anyways.” “No you’re not,” I grunted as we wrestled for it. I pushed him to the ground, grabbed the board, and ran towards the Ocean. Racing down from dry sand to wet, I leaped into a wave. Mahin, trailing behind me, wasn’t so lucky. He collided with the wave and got blasted, as usual. He also ended up way back from where the wave hit him, as usual. This reminds of one day at the beach and there was the biggest wave any of us ever saw and we all got swept back. Except for Mahin who ended back to where the dry sand once was. One to two minutes later everyone else arrived. We were all having a great time except from Mahin. He kept getting hit wave after wave, and stayed behind the rest of us because every time he got close, he got swept away. I started to fell bad. I gave him boogie-board. Although I couldn’t swim well, he couldn’t swim at all. Mahin finally kept up with us. After some time had passed, the grown ups announced that our departure was in 20 minutes and that we had to go wash ourselves off. When I arrived to the changing rooms, Mahin was the first to leave. “I’m going to the ice cream man,” he pointed out. He left without another word. After changing, I overheard some of my family members talking that they couldn’t find Mahin anywhere. Last time he got lost, he was with me and his older brother. Mahin kept asking for ice cream related things. Like Dippin-Dots. It’s always food. I told everyone what had happened. We looked all over the beach, with no luck. We then visited the ice cream truck. The man had a creepy grin on his face. We searched far and wide asking people, “Have you seen this boy?” One of my cousins and I went far down the board-walk. We went about eight blocks. We hurried back. We overheard the police man telling the adults that they had found him a block away from where I had just been. He has a whole conspiracy about police, ever since he got a ticket for standing up in his car. “Why aren’t you wearing your seatbelt?” the officer inquired. “Why aren’t you wearing yooou wearing your seatbelt?” He answered back. When we all heard that he was found we were relieved. I also felt anger. Anger because he is older than me and can’t realize that he went down too far. He arrived in the backseat of the police car. He leaped out to meet his mother. After I punched him a couple of times we squished into our cars and headed home. We stopped somewhere to eat and to hear his story. “First I went to get ice cream, but I realized I had no money. I was tired after walking for a while and went back on the beach and fell asleep for an hour. Then I woke up and kept walking. Then I saw the cop car and started to run and they chased me. I got scared and didn’t know what to do. Then they put on their siren and I darted off. They caught up to me and asked, ‘Do you know that your family is looking for you?’ and ‘Why were you trying to run from me?’ Then I got in the car and he told the other cops that he had found me.” “How dumb can you be,” my sister yelled at him. Then he got a phone call from his sister in Arizona. She talked to him for a while. He started to cry. No one knew what she said to him, and he didn’t say. I’ve always wondered what she said to him. He only cries when we wrestle and he loses. “When are we going to leave?” I asked my uncle. I was exhausted, just like everyone else. “We are not leaving until I get some ice cream,” Mahin declared. “You still want ice cream, after everything that happened?” I asked him. “Yes.” “Well you are not getting any after today. Come on, let’s go. Author’s Notes I was inspired to write this story because it recently occurred. It happened the summer that just passed. This story was written so the reader could learn how I felt that day. I now know not to let my cousin wander off alone anymore. This is the third time he got lost, but this is the most serious because he is older and it took over three hours for him to be found.