Steven Marquez
Prof. M. Denesiuk
INGL-3238
3/15/18

Stupid Games.

My eyes were closed. I felt intense pain all over my body as I gasped for air. Arms flailing uncontrollably splashed cold saltwater into my face. Trying to stand was futile. I couldn't get my body out of the water and the heels on my feet were covered in sea urchins spines. I yelled when I could but it wasn't a call for help. I felt fear in the screams of my friends. The type of shriek which causes your hairs to stand on end. They were not calls for help either.

A couple hours ago we stood in the same spot staring at its beauty. We planned the trip the night before. I wanted to show the beach to a group of close friends so that they would help me plan the senior class walkout. Located in the north coast about 45 minutes from the capital meant it was secluded on weekdays. Perfect for a day in which we wanted to own the place. We arrived after noon, late for a day at the beach. There was broken glass on the parking floor and no other cars around. Rolando, our driver, mentioned the glass but was quickly dismissed. He was always the most tame of our group. After securing our things we set on to walk towards the beach. Part of what made it particularly fit for a walkout was the forest that separated the parking area from the shore and divided the coastline into several secluded beaches. The first stretch was mangroove. It didn't smell as strong as they usually do that day. The forest opened into a field of waist high grass. The sun burned my skin with a hot tingle that made getting into the water an even better proposition. We arrived at the first stretch of beach. The most private of them. A natural rock formation blocked the view from the main beach. The seawall was tall. Enough to cause a small bay. The only presence of waves was their sound when hitting the wall. If you walk in knee high water the seawall opens into a cave tunnel which goes from calm bay to the fierce ocean. We went in as a group. The floor was rock and the waves made it difficult to spot pesky sea urchins or changes in depth. Towards the end of the tunnel crashed waves strong enough to sweep and tire the most experienced of swimmers. After staring at it for a while Rolando suggested we turn back. In that moment I stepped on my first sea urchin of the day. Its black spines pierced my heel but I didn't focus on the pain. I was excited to show my friends the stretch of beach in which we would spend our senior walkout. After another walk through the forest we arrived at the main beach. This one had a breakwater further away from the shore and was long enough to easily accommodate the whole class. Phone reception was inexistent which meant outside communication was null. We spent the rest of our afternoon there. Apart from having to light a bonfire to get rid of bugs it was uneventful.

Five o’clock was closing in on us and Rolando wanted to head home before sundown. After extinguishing the fire we started the walk back to the car. The forest was slightly darker now than when we arrived. The path was one person wide. Our group of four was walking in line. Leading was Jonathan, he was hungry and wanted to take the shortest path to the parking which meant skipping the small bay we saw hours ago. Rolando however wanted to see the cave once more. We arrived at a junction in the forest and met with a group protest he took the lead, taking the long way through the coast. I don’t remember if I was in third or fourth position but I can see clear as day the moment Rolando waved his arms in the air as if he had walked through a spider web. A comic karmic payback for delaying our quest for food. I didn't have time to laugh before hearing a loud buzz, and then I felt it. Sting. Sting. Sting. Sting. We ran.

A cloud of bees washed over us as we ran and screamed. The pain was intense. Time seemed to slow down for a moment. It couldn't have been more than 100 feet to the beach but it felt much longer. After a couple of seconds one accepts that there is no way out and each sting blends into what can only be describe as white noise. There are few and far in between moments in life when I have seen everything with such clarity, calmness even. Before I could get the words out of my mouth Rolando shouted my thoughts. Vamos pa’l agua!! And so we did. We were greeted by a rock floor which luckily didn't seriously injure any of us. Next came the sea urchins. I would spend the next couple of months finding stray spines I couldn't get out of my feet that day. But perhaps the worst we encountered on that shore was a surprise. Bees aren't scared of water, and they will follow and sting even when swimming. I don't know how long we spent only coming up to breath and splashing water trying to shoo the little beasts. What felt close to an hour was probably closer to 20 minutes. However the solution was evident, the bees wouldn't go away. We ran away wrapped in wet towels. The bees let us go after just a couple hundred feet. Had we continued running from the beginning it wouldn't have lasted more than two minutes. The rest of the walk to the car was spent picking away at the stings left over in the skin. I wasn't in the mindset to count but they were in the dozens. Fortunately none of us were allergic as the distance to any hospital would mean serious trouble for someone in that situation. We learned a couple of things that day; Never run from bees into the water. Never stop running from bees, they will let go. The most obvious of all we learned from talking to another group we met in the parking which had just experienced the same minutes before us.
Never shoot a beehive for fun.