I dedicate this story to my mom, Jake, Lola, Willie, and Bub

La playa perfecta

by Emma Hirsch

One hot day, Mom said, “Ready! Set! Go!” Pow! Click! Clack! We run

down the hill. I feel sweaty and hot. I feel pressure that I will lose. I am in the lead and then all of the sudden,I see Lola slide in front of me. I scream! Lola! I know I will not win! “Lola!” WHO WON?

   Lola or Willie usually win. Lola is really fast.  The race just ended. Oh no. Like always Lola won. I feel sad and upset but I know there will be other races.

 On the hill, walking back up, the sand is burning. It is so hot that it is cold.      We keep walking, dragging our feet. We get to the top of the hill and look down. We see hundreds of hills, covered in burning sand. It is so pretty.

Now that I look down I remember the one time when mom, Jake, Lola, Willie, Bub and I were walking on the hot path on the way back. Mom spotted something. It was moving. It was a fox. It was the coolest thing I       have ever seen. Now when I look down I imagine I see a fox. I know I   don’t but, I imagine I do.

After    we raced a couple of times we all found a shady spot to sit and relax. We had a great time. It was perfect, amazing, wonderful, but we had to go.  We had to go back home because it is getting dark. We soon         see the sun drop. It hits the floor. It is getting darker by the second. We  walk back on the trail and walk as slowly as we can.                                We stop to give the dogs water and take a little break. My dog looks up at me. I see her big soggy, black eyes. She blinks and looks back down. She keeps on walking. The sand has cooled down by now. We see the   shimmering blue water and the golden brown sand. We are getting closer to the beach.We are starting to see it more and more.

We get to the ocean and dip our feet in the water, and the dogs run in. I ask my brother, “Do you need a towel?” He said, “Why would I need a towel? I am just dipping my-” Right then I pushed him in the drifty cold water. He sticks out his hand as if he was asking for help. I grabbed his hand and he pulled me in with him.I feel his cold wet hand reaching to mine. I feel the water touching my head all the way down to my toes. It is now late. Very late.  We were both freezing. He was annoyed and I was cracking up.

This is a very important place because we go here every year. We only go in the summer though so it is so amazing when we do go. I always feel so lucky that we found this awesome beach. We all love it so much because it is like a second home. I feel safe and comfortable there.