Everyone has that one unique fear. You know what I mean, the one that is so terrifying to you but when you tell people they just laugh. Mine is coral. That’s right, you heard me. Coral. Seriously, how are people not afraid of it. It’s creepy and weird looking. Sometimes it’s bright, sometimes it's dull. And worst of all, there are millions of little creatures living inside of it. So when you touch it, god knows how many of those little organisms are now on your fingers. Anyway, none of my friends know about this and I intend to keep it this way. However, that’s a little hard to do when your friend decides to host their bachelor party on a yacht near a reef to go snorkeling. I couldn’t say no just because of the chance I’d be near a reef, I mean, he was one of my closest friends. But I also couldn’t let him know I’m terrified of coral. Thankfully there’s a simple enough solution. Just stay on the boat at all times, pretty easy, right? Apparently someone up above or I guess I should say down below, decided to test the fates that day. The day started normally with everyone having fun while the boat made it’s trip to the reef. Unfortunately for me, when we reached the reef my friend thought it would be funny to push me off the boat! I was freaking out in the water, trying not to touch anything and stay afloat. Everyone on the boat was laughing and said they wouldn’t let me back up until I completed their scavenger hunt. One sea urchin, two sea shells, and three pieces of coral. I was losing what little of my mind I had left at this point. But I refused to tell them, so I turned around and went to look. The seashells were easy enough, the sea urchin however was...tricky. I didn’t know squat about sea life, so obviously I didn’t know anything about sea urchins. How was I supposed to know a safe vs dangerous one? I decided to skip it and tell them I wouldn’t do it because it was dangerous. I couldn’t really get out of the coral though. So I swam around a bit looking for dead pieces of coral that didn’t have any creatures on them. No such luck. So I swam back to the boat and pretended I saw a barracuda and they needed to get me out now. I had to sell it so I pretended to look around frantically for it, instead I came face to face with a lion fish. I froze and motioned for them to open the door. I was so scared, I couldn’t tell if my heart was still beating or not. I didn’t know what to do as the fish swam around me, and I could hear the minute the people unboard saw it. They started screaming and yelling to get me out. I was no help considering I was petrified, so I decided to try and find something to stand on. Hoping to get the majority of my body out of the water. However as if this situation wasn’t bad enough the only place to stand was a pillar of dead coral. I hated it more than anything, but it was definitely worth a try. I climbed up and waited for the fish to leave, this went on for a few minutes. Eventually it left and I swam aboard and screamed over the railing, “NOT TODAY, FISHY!”
