Unforgettable Moment by Ariff Jamsheer Jafri

     It was a sunny day. In the middle of the vast ocean, my family and I were spending our holidays on a private island hopping expedition in Pulau Redang. The boat that we rode was driven by Mr. Pokku and his son, Alif as the tour guide. We were having a blast chatting with them.

    We headed for our first destination which was a small sandy island that seemed like it just spawned out of nowhere. A lot of other tourists were busy taking pictures and cherishing the moments. No exception for my family. After some camera-clicking sessions, we went for a swim. I was in awe when I found out I was a pretty skilful swimmer. After a while, we agreed to continue our trip to the next location.

    During the journey, while enjoying the breeze on the boat, Alif shared his experience in swimming and snorkelling. We discovered that he was a really amazing swimmer. We reached at our next destination which was in the middle of the blue ocean. Without asking lots of questions, we put on our life jacket and also the snorkelling equipment before jumping into the water. While eyeing the dazzling corals, Alif immediately got into the water with no safety equipment at all! He was able to dive, glide and float expertly and seeing this, jealousy filled me in.

    I immediately went to the back of the boat and took off my equipment. I jumped into the water without any hesitation. At first, I manage to calm myself down and stay afloat for quite a while. Out of the blue, my legs cramped and I panicked. I tried yelling for help but unfortunately my voice was not loud enough to be heard by my family. I descended slowly to the bottom of the sea struggling to survive. When I thought that was the end of it, a strong hand reached and pulled me up to the surface.

    I threw up salt water and composed myself. I looked up to see my saviour, the hero who rescued me from death and to my surprise, it was Alif. He seemed to be out of breath. I thanked him profusely for putting his life on the line to save me. He advised me not to be overconfident and get ahead of myself. We kept that incident as our little secret and I would never forget about that moment until my last breath.