Bad ideas

It's incredibly stupid to do something ridiculous just to prove that you're not too scared and that you're "brave" enough, especially if no one is accusing you of being chicken. Also especially if it happens to be related to one of your phobias.

We decided to spend a great day at the beach today. After a few hours of this and that, Mary and I decided to dig a hole big enough for someone to crouch in, which evolved into a tunnel. Mary decided she would crawl through the tunnel when it was complete. So, we had a tunnel, about two feet long, with a foot of sand or so above it, and maybe two or three feet in diameter. But the unsteadiness of the tunnel, combined with the fact that it was still collapsing and a bit too small to fit through for Mary (who is much smaller than me) made her decide it wasn't such a great idea. So, I jumped right up to the idea.

My plan was that I'd go through headfirst with my arms by my sides and use my feet to push off the hole of the wall and force myself through with maybe two pushes. The first push went fine, and I ended with my head through to the other side and my arms pinned against me. I went to push the second time, but I wasn't far enough to really push off the other sand wall. Then the tunnel collapsed, pinning me down.

It wasn't heavy, I just couldn't move my arms becuase of the awkwardness fo the position I was in, so I semi-calmly asked my friends to come help me, since the sand covered me from neck to knees. Leah, Mary, Judy, and Daniel rushed to the rescue, but their movement caused the sand to fall more and heavier, causing me to show the fear I'd been hiding. I couldn't see or feel them digging, even though I knew that they were. Then the sand settled a third time with their movement so close to the tunnel, and I began screaming at the top of my lungs. I knew I wasn't going to die, but I still was completely terrified by being trapped with no way to move my arms, and the sand moving closer and closer to my face. Suddenly Daniel appeared in my line of sight, calming me down enough to ask him to help, to which he responded he already was. He reached through the sand, gripped below my shoulders, and slowly began lifting my upper body up thorough the sand. After a few inches I was up enough to force my arms forward and prop myself up on my elbows, causing all panic to subside and more visibility. Mary, on my left, was a little scared looking, Judy was laughing and Leah was, well, her face was in her arms and she was either laughing, crying, or hyperventilating. It turned out to be an odd combination of the three. She apparently just had a panic attack when the tunnel "collapsed" and rushed to my side, forgetting to breathe until I was safe, and then she could freak out.

It was a wonderful day.