Barracudas

The Bermuda Barracuda

Last summer I was almost eaten alive when my family and I went on a cruise to Bermuda. My experience in Bermuda included going to many of the beaches and lagoons.

On the very last day before we left this beautiful, luxurious island we decided to go to Horseshoe Beach and Lagoon now I had heard that Horseshoe Beach was the most gorgeous and unique beach around because it had acres of shining pink sand. For that reason my family decided to ride the bus downtown to the beach, so we trudged down to the bus stop. The day was extremely humid and I felt as if I was in an oven set on 400 degrees. My brother and I argued the whole way down to the beach, ?I?m going to go snorkeling first,? he stated.

?No, I am!? I whined.

?No, I am because I?m older,? he sneered condescendingly.

?No, I am.?

?I am.?

We argued about this subject endlessly, until my mother angrily cut us off, ?You two be quiet or neither of you will be allowed to use the snorkeling equipment?From then on, Jared and I behaved.

I heard a squeal of wheels and turned around sharply, expecting to see a regular Greyhound bus, but when I turned around it was the strangest thing I had ever seen! The bus was red, yellow and blue and had the strangest pictures drawn on it. Cautiously I climbed on the bus and found a seat. When I checked out my surroundings, I noticed that the seats were old, gray and dusty. I leaned back and took a deep breath, and instantly began to cough, dust was everywhere! Looking up in agony to the front of the bus toward the driver. At just that moment he decided to look up into the dust covered mirror above him, catching me staring straight at him! He smiled a hideous smile right at me. The first things I noticed though were his extremely ugly teeth, they were yellow and gray, he was even missing some. All of a sudden, the bus came to a screeching halt and I was thrown back against the old dusty seat, ?Here?s our stop,? my mom said. I struggled to sit up and slowly worked my way down the aisle.

Once outside though I gasped in delight, the beautiful pink sand shimmered in the red hot sun. I walked down to the beach, took off my sandals and my shorts, then I tiptoed down to the crystal clear water dragging my snorkeling equipment behind me.

As I walked into the lukewarm water, I noticed dozens of fishes scattering in all different directions wherever I stepped. I put on my goggles, adjusting them to my head, pulled on the flippers, and put in the mouthpiece. Then I slid onto my stomach and began making slow little kicks.

I saw dozens of fish, even a couple Angelfish, but they all scattered when I moved, so I swam back to shore to ask my mom if she had anything I could use to feed them. As I was walking up the beach I heard someone say, ?If you?re looking for food to feed the fish, I have some right here.? I turned around to see who it was and noticed it was the thirteen year old son of the family that dined with us. I smiled and murmured,

?Thank you,? as he handed me a soggy box of Rice Krispies.

I was still smiling when I opened the box, went under water and scattered the cereal about. Fish of all sizes, shapes and colors swam up to me. At one point I saw a gorgeous black and white angelfish. I tried to follow it but soon lost the beutiful fish. I looked around searching for her and didn?t even notice the long, gray fish that swam up right in front of me. I saw a dark shadow move and looked up, expecting to see the angelfish. What I did see though surprised me more than the angelfish ever could a Barracuda! I was so scared I froze. I could not think of anything to do. I began to wonder why it was swimming towards me. I had heard they only eat small shiny fish. I then looked down at my hand holding the cereal and noticed the sun was hitting my ring and it was sparkling like a thousand newly polished emeralds. I racked my brain for an idea, ah hah! I shot my hand into the hot Bermuda air above the lagoon. Just as I hoped it would , the barracuda stopped right where it stood. I then preceded to do exactly what the barracuda did, when it swam backwards I swam forwards, when it swam up so did I, when it swam down, I did the same. Pretty soon the barracuda turned and swam away my plan had worked! Relief flooded over me my snorkeling instructor was right! Pretty soon I was running down the beach towards my parents, ?Mom, guess what just happened to me!?