Tubing

English teachers are often fond of saying "show don't tell" and "take me there" when they speak to their students about the power of description and imagery in creative writing.  Notice how Emily L., though she is only a seventh grade, does an excellent job taking us along on her adventure.

Tubing

Invigorated by the cotton-white ocean spray and the ice-cold wind at 10 a.m.

attempting to hang on to the sky-blue grips for my life

flying through the air near the speed of light

bouncing around the sharp turns

no tube under me

SPLASH!

Gasping for air,

soaked in the jellyfish water,

traffic-cone orange life vest pulls me up

back on the tube, laughing and screaming again,

flying and flopping around like the bubble gum-pink salmon out of water.