Conquering of Fears

For as long as I could remember I have had a chronic fear of crashes at high speeds and

that my best friend Joseph has never feared anything.   He would jump off the Eiffel Tower if he

got the chance.   On the day that I would finally conquer my fear I was in the back seat of Joseph’s

uncle’s Ford Expedition with the whole seat to myself.   If I were to turn my head around I would

see the large speeder boat the car was pulling behind it.   We were on our way to the Delta

Marina.   Our plan was to go tubing in the water.   The only way we would end our turn on the

tube was by flipping over and crashing into the water.

The road began to get rocky and the smell of wet wood was in the air.   We finally reached

the loading point for cars with boats.   It was not until I was sitting in the boat with my life vest on

and I could feel the swaying of the marina water that I realized how scared I was.   I was shaking

slightly, my palms were soaked with sweat and suddenly I felt as if I had to go to the bathroom

very desperately and the engine had not even been turned on yet.

I sat in the very back of the boat facing the front.   When I saw Joseph’s uncle put the key

in the ignition I almost instinctively grabbed the closest thing to my hand.   To my surprise I had

grabbed Joseph’s arm who had sat adjacent to me.   I recoiled with great embarrassment.   Joseph

said joshingly, “Oh Adam I didn’t know you felt that way.”   Then he laughed, but I was too

caught up in my mistake to laugh or even notice the engine had turned on.   The sudden

acceleration surprised me so much I almost fell off right away.

It took a few seconds, but I got use to the speed and even began to find a peace in the

wind and the sound it made as it rushed by my ears.   I sat in a very scholarly position with my

hands folded and my back straight up.   I looked over at Joseph and saw...