Almost lost her

We were out in the waves, and I noticed things were getting choppier. Tide's coming in. It'll swallow our stuff on the beach if I'm not wary; the guy who rented us a dune buggy the other day told us a story about someone parking is Jeep where the tide came in, and the water took it away into the ocean "just like it was a boogie board!"

"I think we'd better go in," I tell Violet, who is hopping up and down against me.

"No no no!"

"OK, two minutes." I hop over the swell of one wave, but don't see the big one behind it. Before I know it it's towering over me, big, inescapable, like my tsunami nightmares. BAM! It slams into us, knocking us down, knocking my glasses off, knocking her out of my arms. I grab on to one edge of her T-shirt and hold on to my glasses with the other hand. I hold on so tight, the whole ocean couldn't drag her away from me. When the wave recedes she is screaming and sobbing, water in her eyes and nose. I stagger up on the beach and lie on the sand. My heart is pounding, toes and fingers tingling. I almost lost her that time. I can't breathe. "It's OK, Vibee. it's OK. It's OK." And it is, but it isn't. We spend the rest of the morning up at the pool.