Journal 29

About a year ago, my mom, dad, and I went to visit my aunt, uncle, and cousins in Florida during the summer.  My cousin, Shelby, plays volleyball and I used to play volleyball, so we decided to go to the beach and play together.  The drive was only about fifteen or twenty minutes, I think, and then we arrived at the beach.  We jumped out of the car with the volleyball and found an open space with a net to play at.  Shelby, as I discovered, was a very talented player.  Although the score stayed relatively close up until the end, she had a lead on me from the very beginning.  Not having played for a couple of years, it was a little more challenging for me than for her, who was currently in-season at the time.  We had been playing for quite a while when in-between serves I asked her where our water bottles were at.  We were both dismayed when we realized that in the rush getting to the beach, the water bottles were left at her house.  Despite it being a very hot day and that we were without water, we decided to keep on playing until the game ended.  So we played for a while longer, I am not sure how long it was, until I began to feel really dizzy and weak.  Apparently I fainted from a heat stroke and was unconscious for a while.  When I finally was awake again, I was told that Shelby ran over to get my parents who at the time were in their air-conditioned car in the parking lot and we all went back to the house, knowing that I would be better in a while.  Later that day, we all went to Dairy Queen to get a milkshake.  For whatever reason, the building was empty besides the workers.  When we went to order, the cashier heard us say that I had recently fainted from the heat.  She began talking about today was really hot and how she herself almost got a heat stroke from playing softball for too long.  I told her the story of how my cousin and I had been playing volleyball at the beach.  That’s when she said that she plays volleyball as well.  We talked a bit more about different things and the conversation ended with us scheduling a time to get together and play volleyball with Shelby.  This time, we took plenty of breaks and actually remembered to bring the water.  I ended up becoming friends with Clara, the cashier at Dairy Queen, and we still talk on the phone and on Facebook, and I plan to see her again the next time I am in Florida.