The “Eye of the Storm,” is what my father called it, seemed calmer than what I had expected it to be. It’s as if the storm had already passed, as if we could just go back to the way that life was before.  Although I was young, I still knew that nothing would ever be the same. In that quiet, peaceful moment, I decided to go out to see the damage that was caused by the strong howling winds and pouring rain. My entire neighborhood looked awfully different I didn’t recognize anything. Cars were turned upside down, windows were broken into a million tiny pieces, twigs and branches were everywhere, and a majority of the trees were knocked over. 
I was walking, reminiscing about what that town used to be, when I heard someone calling my name. At first I assumed that it was my father but it wasn’t, he was too busy looking at all the damage done to our house. Instead it was K., running up to me with his dog running behind him. He was wearing a red Polo shirt and capris with open toed sandals. We exchanged greetings the way we always did it, with just a simple head nod. Without saying a single word, we continued to walk towards the beach.
Along the way, K. had mumbled something but I was so distracted by the destruction that I didn’t even bother to listen or ask him to repeat. The only thing that caught my attention was the ocean; it was just so calm, as if it was just another ordinary day at the beach. I noticed that the water came higher on shore today than any other day. I knew because the trench that K. and I dug up yesterday was completely filled with water. It would take months maybe even years before we could get the beach looking back to the way that it was. So K. and I decided to get a head start before it was time to head home and wait out the rest of the storm. Every few minutes we would stop to analyze an object that wasn’t once there before. We would look at every inch to try and see if we knew where the strange object came from, and when we were done we would let K’s dog sniff it. We knew for sure that he would let us know if that if the object presented was dangerous or not.
Walking along the shore, I saw an object floating on shore. Being as curious as I was, of course I went out to see what it was. The object was different, something I have never seen before. That object looked like a coin from another century. It was a shiny; bronze, golden color and it had an image of a woman on it. I knew that the coin-like object didn’t belong here, I knew that it came from another land. I didn’t know if I should keep it or let it float away, so I called K. over.  He wasn’t too far away, yet he wasn’t close. But in no time he was at my side saying, “Oh wow, what is it.” I didn’t know so I just shrugged my shoulders.
“Should I keep it K?”
“Yeah why not. What could possibly go wrong?”
After a while, the sky was turning dark and I figured that it was about time to head home. So we turned around and began walking. But we soon stopped as a powerful wind smacked us in the back of the head. It wasn’t like any other wind; it was much stronger and much faster. We both turned around and were stunned by the view. It had to be the most beautiful thing I have ever saw. The sky was this purple color and the ocean was so clear that it just looked like a giant mirror. The entire view looked as if the Gods painted it themselves.

Of course we stopped for a moment to just embrace that magnificent view. Any normal person would. But just in a blink of an eye that perfect view was gone. They sky turned dark grey, the wind became stronger than ever, and sand was flying everywhere. K and I covered our faces to avoid getting sand in our eyes, and then all of a sudden everything stopped. There was no wind, no rain, no nothing. I heard a faint scream in the background and I noticed that K was just standing and staring into the ocean. I tried to get his attention but all he did was stand, stare and point.
I don’t know how anyone else would described it, but what I saw was a wave. There was just a massive wave coming in my direction. In that moment I didn’t know if I would live or die, the wave was coming so quickly. So I took my chance, and started running. I probably was running faster than I had ever run in my entire life. But something stopped me from continuing. I turned around and saw K still standing in the same spot. I had two choices, to turn around and keep running or to go back and get my best friend in the entire world, my brother. Would I take the chance to run back and get K, knowing that there is a possibility that we wouldn’t survive? Or would I run home to where it was safe even though my friend K would not have made it?  I didn’t have a real long time to decide, that wave was already so close. I ran over to K but at that point in time I knew that it was already too late. I knew that we weren’t going to make it, well at least not both of us. With that being said, I used all my strength and pushed K out of the way, back towards town. Before I could even turn around to check and see if he was okay and safe out of harms way, I was already down under. I fought and I fought but it was no use, I wasn’t going anywhere. Eventually I gave up and just stopped fighting and let the enviable happen. It wasn’t long after until everything just turned black.

I woke up a few days later in a hospital bed. My vision was blurry but I still knew where I was. A few minutes after waking up a nurse came in and did his routine check-up. He then said, “You’re lucky to have a friend like K. If it wasn’t for him you probably wouldn’t have been here.” I was disillusioned and yet astonished. I didn’t know what happened after I was eaten by the wave, but I knew that I would never forget. Did K really jump in and save me? Did he really risk his life to save me? I was grateful for K and I was grateful at that decision that I made. A few moments later I heard my father and mother mumble something but then it all turned black again.
I left the hospital a few weeks later with K at my side. Since school was closed for a long time, K and I helped with the town clean up. Eventually we got the town looking back to the way it was supposed to. In my opinion it looked even better. A lot of the properties were destroyed and needed fixing. I say that 3 years later there were tall buildings all over. Houses were stronger, there were a lot more jobs, and soon there was even more people wanting to come to live in our newly renovated town.
K and I stayed in our small town for a long time. We finished elementary school, middle and high school. We helped each other along the way. Since I was a year older than K. I was able to help him with schoolwork and eventually he became head of his class.  I was so very proud of him. Once we received our high school diplomas we went off straight to college. We both got accepted in all sorts of colleges, but we decided to go to Johns Hopkins. I became a successful orthopedic surgeon and K was a successful cardio thoracic surgeon.

I’m glad that I have someone like K in my life. Without him, I would probably be dead to this day. Now I stand here before you all in my fifties, telling you my survival story, and I still have my best friend by my side. He was my best man at my wedding and I was his. We have a bond stronger than anything and nothing can ever break that.
That September day will never be forgotten. I will always have those memories for life.