during the trip, my father made me take Leo and Lukas out exploring. The three of us covered a lot of
ground, and I tried to act tough in front of them by slashing my knife at any plant that got in our way.
The 4 th of July of this year was the day I saved my little brother’s life from drowning. I went with my
family to Antje and Gary Twinn’s house, as they always had a 4th of July party. The Bubenheims were
there, including Leo and Pollina. So was Vincent Twinn, who had grown up quite fast. The last time I saw
him, he was the little kid who looked up to me when I showed him all of my computer games. Now he
was just becoming a teenager, with an interest in skateboarding.
The party was a pool party, and my brother Jazz had full exposure to the swimming pool. He had
already learned how to walk, but he couldn’t swim. At one instance as I was eating lunch, I saw Jazz
quickly run off from the adults, completely unattended. I then watched as he curiously examined the
water, and then descended into steps of the shallow end of the pool. Before long, he lost his footing on
the steps and his whole body sank into the water. Nobody noticed. He was going to drown, I thought
with panic. I ran as fast as I could, plunging into the water with my clothes still on, and pulled him out. I
asked him how he was doing, and he coughed up some water and told me he felt fine.
