It was the summer of 2016. My friend Connor was taking Hunter and I to Myrtle Beach. One of our plans was to wake up early and go deep sea fishing. We would catch sharks and other sea life. The morning of our fishing expedition we woke up at six in the morning. This might not seem early, but this was in the middle of the summer, so I was used to sleeping until 11:00 a.m.
My height was nothing admire. I still hadn’t hit any growth spurts. Connor wasn’t much taller, and hadn’t yet lost his baby fat. He had shaggy brown hair that went past his ears. Connor was used to getting up this early, so he was ready to go before Hunter and I even got out of bed. Hunter and I got up slowly and got ready for the day. Hunter staggered over both of us at six foot four. Perhaps the difference in elevation was what made him prone to extreme motion sickness. He was worried the boat would make him sick so he took his powerful medicine before we left. On the way to the boat, Hunter and I sat in the back with Connor’s dad driving and Connor was in the passenger's seat. Hunter and I were still both tired, so we both fell asleep in the back seat. I woke up to Connor shaking me, “wake up guys, we’re here!” The four of us along with Connor’s close family walked to the boat. The boat was much smaller than I had expected. It was white but had gotten dirty from past excursions.
As we got there Dan announced, “Everyone took their Dramamine right?”
My heart dropped. Dramamine is a pill that helps with motion sickness, and one is supposed to consume it if they are riding in the ocean for the first time. I didn’t take one, and I was the only one. While I was sleeping, Connor and his dad had taken a pill. Hunter was also sleeping, but he had taken his stronger pill earlier. It was too late to go back now, I decided to tough it out. Everyone got on the boat. There were two fishermen, one is tall and skinny, the other was bigger but still in shape. They both had skin like leather from being out in the sun all day. The first thing we did when we left was drop a giant net into the water. The fishermen told us that this is how we would catch our bait. They said, “We need bait to catch sharks, instead of buying it, we’ll just catch that too.” After we catch the small fish that we will use for bait, the fishermen put all of the hand sized fish into buckets filled with water. The fishermen explained, “we are going out to deeper water now, that’s where the sharks reside.” The little waves of the shallow water didn’t bother my stomach at all. I was comfortable with the small waves of lake fishing. However, I was still worried what the bigger waves would do to my stomach. On the ride out to the deeper water, Connor’s uncle told us what he saw on the news that morning, “The reporter said that there someone spotted a tiger shark around where we are. You better watch out!” he joked. About 15 minutes in, Hunter commences  to seem nauseous. He grew more pale than a mid-winter snowdrift, and looks as if he is about to be sick. His motion sickness was starting to kick in, he needed to lie down. Slowly after that, more people started to get sick. Almost everyone except me. We were almost to the spot where we were going to fish when a storm warning came on the radio. Moments later the most insane storm I’ve ever seen came. It looked like a scene from “Deadliest Catch.” The black clouds came, when they opened up it was like a giant bucket of water was dropped on our heads. It was pouring, and in no time, everybody was completely soaked. The huge black waves were rocking the boat ferociously. They were giant curtains of black crashing against the boat. Everyone was focusing on balancing themselves on the slippery, teetering deck when a gigantic white flash crashed into the water. It was the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard. We were able to see the lightning less than a mile away.
It may have been the fear of the storm, or it could have been the constant rocking during the storm; most likely it was a mix of both, but at that moment I felt sick to my stomach. I couldn’t contain it, so I leaned over the side of the boat to let out the vomit coming. The next thing I remember is seeing a giant blur fly over my head. I turned around and saw something crazier than anything I’ve ever encountered before. There was a 15 foot long tiger shark flopping around on the boat. Everyone was frozen in fear. The first to move were the fishermen. They each grasped an oar and tried to push the shark off of the boat. This strategy worked, until the shark whipped its tail and the skinnier of the fishermen fell to the ground. He hits his head hard, very hard, and immediately I saw blood. The fishermen stood back up, he gave one very hard thrust out of anger. The shark slid off the boat. Everyone sighs a sigh of relief. The next thing we have to do is bandage the fisherman’s head. The other fisherman knows what to do and we let him take care of the other man. After he’s finished he immediately takes us home. Everyone is very quiet on the ride home. We get back and pay the fishermen. They are going to the hospital to get the man’s head checked. On the ride home Connor says, “Do you guys wanna go swimming when we get back?” Hunter and I respond in unison, “No way!”