Crave by Jordan Sweet Read Free Book Online

to shore and see we are close enough that I could swim in, if I had to.  And then I see the rope hanging over the other side of the boat. 
    I look over the edge and see that Josie and her family are swimming off, further out into the water.  She said I should look for the leopard sharks when I get in, but that kind of makes me really not want to get in.  They’re supposedly safe, but they’re sharks, PEOPLE! Come on.  Nature always wins.  That much I know.
    I hear two wave runners off in the distance, coming and going.  Should I be worried about that? 
    After I sufficiently rule out in my head the probability of a shark attack, or getting run down by one of the wave runners, I slip into the water.  It is cold at first, but my body suit keeps me warm.  As soon as I start to swim, I get more comfortable.  I look under and at first I enjoy.  The water is clearer underneath the surface and there is tons of stuff to look at. 
    No sharks yet.  That’s good.
    I float for a few seconds before the first wave comes over and fills my snorkel, and my stomach, with water.  I come up gagging and coughing.  Gagging over that disgusting salty taste of the water.  I feel like I’m going to throw up.
    I’m close enough that I grab the ladder to the boat and hang there for a minute.  My stomach instantly got queasy. 
    I can only see the bob of Josie’s family snorkels above the water, and then they disappear.  They are a pretty good distance away from me now.  And I realize that this snorkel adventure, if there is to be one for me, will be done on my own.  Sucks to be the first timer. 
    The waves aren’t letting up any, and I do believe they are getting larger.  I slip away from the ladder determined to give it another try.  At first, some water comes into my snorkel and I take on a little bit of that, but then I sort of figure the thing out and am able to keep it from going down my throat.  Thank god.
    My stomach feels awful, but I am able to just float for a while, and enjoy all the things I see below.  When I look up again, Josie’s family is nowhere in sight, and the boat is now a good ways off too. 
    I notice that the current has actually pulled me closer to shore and away from the boat.
    I decide for some reason that I am ready to dive down.  I’ve got the snorkel figured out now, and that’s really where the action is, down and around the kelp.
    I dive and before I take two strokes downward, the snorkel fills and my stomach is again gorged with seawater.  The snorkel comes out of my mouth quickly and I’m torn between trying to get everything out versus the risk of taking in more salty water.  I resurface as quickly as I can and cough it all up.
    I’m deeply winded now and my stomach feels like hell.  The waves keep coming and it’s becoming a struggle to swim.  I look below quickly again to see if I can touch the bottom yet.  Nope, still too deep.  And there are lots of rocks and rocky formations that look sharp as hell. 
    I’ve heard that coral reef can rip you apart if you are not careful.  I don’t think this stuff is coral reef, but it sure looks jagged.  There’s no way I’m risking that now.
    I make an effort to swim toward the boat, but the waves and the current keep me in place.  I only feel like I’m drifting further in toward shore, though it is still a long way off.
    I’m closer to the boat than to the shore though so I make up my mind that I’ve got to get back to that boat.
    My arms feel like someone has beaten them for the last half-hour with a bat.  And my legs protest more than they did on those dreaded train tracks.  Those tracks that started this whole damn mess I’m in.  My legs are so worn down that I think they will stop working. 
    I remember the will I had to get to that train and I start to envision the boat in the same way.  But then I look, and shockingly, it still looks like I am further away from it after I swim toward it.
    The weight of my arms,